Black Terror
by Metamorcy
Summary: A nightmare is a dream, a dream is a reality, and a reality brings nothing but harm to all who follows it. And with every death there is life but the final breath of demise will be the one that destroys existence. Lloyd’s fate has just begun. complete
1. Past and Future

**Title: Black Terror**

**Author: **Metamorcy

**Rating: **M

**Disclaimer: **Don't own anything

**N/A: **as for 9/20/08, Black Terror has been edited. The misspellings and mistakes have been corrected. There have been some added materials but I don't remember where…that's not good for me…

**6/04/09 this had been edited for spelling...again...**

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Chapter 1: Past and Future

_A few years ago…_

A scream tried to escape his lips but the shock and fear silenced him. His brown eyes were widening, trapped in a shaken stare. He wanted to _scream_, to shriek, at this frightful vision before him. The rain pattered around him, drenching his red oversized dwarf-made clothes, but that didn't seem to matter to him. Before him was a wooden guillotine, surrounded by people, who stood there quietly as the two bodies went to their deaths. The people didn't move; the rain didn't even seem to bother them either. Umbrellas, colored black, were placed high above their heads, blocking out the rain.

Lloyd fell to his knees, horrified by the event happening in front of him. The soon-to-be hanging and the two bodies that stood there calmly without any fear in their eyes startled him. Nothing scared them not even death that was about to engulf and eat them alive. It _had_ to be an atrocious dream that he could wake up from at any moment. One he would be able to put into the back of his mind by watching his closest friends laugh and by having fun. A nightmare that would disappear when he played with his father, working in the workshop or when he stared up into the night sky, observing the blinking stars. But this was _different_. This was _no_ _normal_ dream. It was one that would remain with him for all eternity, scarred deep into his heart.

As the ropes wrapped around the two bodies' necks, tightening around the soft flesh, the expressions on their faces did not change nor budge as this was happening. The crowds still remained and even as the puddles of water begin to form around their feet, stinking into the muddy pit, they could care less. The rain came down harder, slamming itself into the half frozen bodies below. The freezing temperature sent shivers up his spine and the brownish-reddish hair drooped downward into his pale face. A man stood behind one of the men, his black trench coat flapping wildly, untouched by the rain. It was as if the water couldn't even contact the skin or the cloths, sliding off some imaginary barrier. The short dirty blond hair was slicked back on his forehead and blood-red eyes stared at the body in front filled with worry yet at the same time had no emotion, covered up by the hair. There was a person behind the other, a woman with long blue hair and dark green eyes. She was wearing a blue green dress that was short enough to show her skinny pale legs.

The two bodies stood there in place, staring at each other already knowing what was about to happen next. The one that stood in front of the woman had short bright red hair and light green eyes. He was wearing a white opened coat with a black tank top that showed the belly button. The other one was also a boy that was smiling even as a man headed toward the lever.

Tears welled up in Lloyd's eyes as the wooden planks underneath the two disappear. The two bodies didn't struggle as they meet their demise. They had given glances to each other beforehand that had said 'goodbye' and the whole thing didn't seem to scare them. It was as if they had known in advance that this was going to happen and was going to accept it willingly. Seconds seemed to turn into minutes as the bodies suffocated and slowly the flesh limbs become sluggish. The arms and legs stopped their movement after a second or two passed. Lloyd felt his own limbs shaking; his mind frozen on that _one thing_ before him. When the breathing stopped, the person who had pulled the lever came strolling over proudly. The boots stomped loudly across the planks until he got over to the two hanged men. With a swish of a sword, the ropes were cut and the corpses fell forward into the mud, sinking in like a rock. The two bodies didn't move; dead and motionless.

Lloyd wanted to scream but still no sound could escape. As the vision darkened, tears crawled down his cheeks like sweat. He could even taste the saltiness on his lips when they touched. The bodies sat on the ground, the left one, his short red hair was coated in brown junk. And the other…he didn't need to describe who the person was. He knew and felt himself die just by watching.

_His body; his death._

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Lloyd shot up out of his bed, sweat poured down his pale face. Lighting flashes brightened up the room in an instant before disappearing; allowing darkness to envelope the place, crawling off the corners and spaces in-between the furniture. The rain outside pattered against his wooden house and was just outside the balcony, slamming itself against his door. He peeled the blankets off his sweat soaked body and heaved the door open, gazing out at the dark sky. He stepped outside where the rain continued to pour relentlessly and allowed the icy water to soak him just like he did in his dream. The sky was just as sinister and he could hear the thunder booming loudly in the heavens. He strides forward, his bare feet gliding on the surface and leaned over the railing. Lloyd glanced over to the side to the barracks where Noshie was being held and his pale face began to regain color. Smiling, he climbed over the wooden balcony and onto the roof. Carefully, he watched his feet so they wouldn't slip from the wet tiles and the lighting wasn't helping, it made everything turn so white that it actually harmed his vision.

"I can't see a bloody thing in front of me, it's too dark." Just as the last word left his patched lips, his foot took a misstep. His whole weight shifted to the side and his body began tumbling down the roof. At the last moment as he was about to fall off the side and make a harsh greeting with the rocks below, he caught the side with his right hand; the rest of him hanging off the side and feet swinging wildly in mid-air. A sneer hissed from his mouth as the sharp edges dug into the soft flesh as he tried to hold himself up. He swung his free hand that was hanging aside up and dragged his battered body back onto the roof. Once Lloyd made sure that he wouldn't fall off again, he gazed over to his wounded hand, watching the blood run down like tiny colored streams of red. He moaned in discontent. "Oh man."

Lloyd sighed and raised his hand into the air, letting it heal on its own. A dark smoke admitted from it and the wound squeezed itself back into a thin line, the blood receding and the new flesh overlapping anything that had been there previously. The cut and pain disappeared, vanishing and leaving no mark of anything. He then invoked his hidden powers that were hidden deep in his body, letting his right eye go red. He couldn't afford his left; it was too dangerous with his powers unstable and he didn't want to lose control of it. The night seemed to recede and gave him the ability to see in the dark to a certain amount. He stood back up and proceeded to a safer area to jump off. When he did, he swung his feet over the side, pushed over and landed harmlessly on the damp dirt before heading inside the stable.

"Noishe? Are you awake?" He called out, opening the gate with a loud squeak. Lloyd flinched and sarcastically added. "Yeah, you should be awake _now_."

Once he stepped inside and closed the door, he heard a small whine coming from the other side. Lloyd could see the large green and white creature curled up, far away from the rain. There was a gray blanket draped over his fur, keeping the protozoan warm. "There you are."

At the voice of his master, the beast sat up, knocking the sheet off his fur. Right after that, the beast started shivering from the cold and the flashes of lighting that lighted the whole room at once made the creature whine in fear. Noishe jumped a foot into the air when the thunder shrilled and ran over to his master for protection. Lloyd patted the creature's head softly and tenderly calmed the pet. His eyes spotted the forgotten blanket a few inches away and reached for it, wrapping the still warm cover around the furry body.

"Come on, we're going inside the house. It's too cruel to leave you out here." Lloyd pulled away, opening the door to feel the soft fur brushing up against his hand. Smiling, he held it open for the protozoan before instantly rushing out into the heavy rain. It was hard enough to see in the downpour and darkness but since the two knew the place well enough, it was an easy track back to the front door. The entrance was wide open, the heat from inside was spilling out into the air and Lloyd could see the steam in the cold wind. As they entered, Dirk was at his work oven, throwing in another log and then closing the lid. Orange light seeped through the vents, brightening up the room. Dirk turned to the soaked pair as Lloyd shut the door to prevent anymore heat from leaving and rain from entering. The boy closed both eyes during that moment then back, the right one had turned back to its original color.

"I knew you would bring him in." Dirk chuckled, grabbing the extra towels that was lying on the table and tossed it at Lloyd, who easily caught it. "Lloyd, get changed. You'll catch a cold with those clothes. I'll dry off Noishe for you."

"Okay Dad." Lloyd rushed upstairs to his room, almost tumbling down at the second step. Droplets of water made puddles on the floor, sipping into the cracks of wooden planks. He undressed himself, tossing the clothes into a basket and pulled on new ones that instantly warmed his body but his once spiky brown hair was still soaking wet. As he came back down, this time slower, another towel was thrown at his face. There was a muffled cry and the cloth slid off, revealing the irritated pout however it had no effect since the dwarf had already turned back around.

"Use that to dry your hair." Dirk called from the stove while Noishe was comfortably lying next to the fire where the heat was being released. The dwarf was mixing up a warm drink that was sizzling in the pot; the sound of the spoon scraping against the metal bottom filled the room for a few minutes. Lloyd sat down at the table, gently rubbing the towel against his hair. Every few seconds, the fire would crackle and the logs would tumble inside the stove, sometimes making Noishe's eyes perk up. When Dirk came over, he sat down holding out a cup of hot cocoa.

Lloyd took the cup, feeling the warmth sipping into his icy cold fingers. "Thanks Dad." His lips ran over the edge, slowly sipping the drink. He could feel the liquid run down his esophagus, the heat warming him up. Lloyd noticed that Dirk was staring intently at him, eyebrows slightly tilted downward as if deep in concentration. The swordsmen returned with a questioning appearance, releasing the cup on the wooden table. "What? Is something wrong?"

"Did you have _it_ again, Lloyd?" Dirk asked cautiously, somewhat knowing the answer already.

Lloyd tired to pretend to not understand and tilted his head. A few of the wet bangs slid over covering the brown eyes. "Have what?"

"_Those dreams_."

Lloyd blinked trying harder, his mouth curved. "What do you mean?"

Dirk growled in frustration, impatient, he didn't even bother with reciting a dwarven vow. "Don't _lie_ to me, you know full well about what I'm talking about. What did you _see_ this time?"

Lloyd sighed; surrendering over to his father's strong will and gazed downward to the floor where his bare feet fidgeted. "I saw two men …getting hanged."

Dirk's face softened, watching with a concern expression. "Two men? Who are they?"

"I'm not sure, I've never seen any of them before, but they felt so familiar." He lied half-heartedly; he couldn't say that one of them was his older self, that would be too cruel. He knew his father too well, the dwarf would make a fit about it and then start worrying about everything and Lloyd didn't want that, he didn't want to seem weak and desperate so he kept his mouth shut.

"What about Cloud?"

Lloyd flinched unnoticeably due to the darkness of the room. "I saw him behind one of the men and there was a woman standing behind the other. Both looked like they were about to cry, each flickering like a flame. It was pouring rain outside just like tonight's and the people that surround them didn't do anything but watched as this horrible thing happened. And then the lever was pulled…" Lloyd trailed off unable to continue on with it. His voice drowned out by the memories that flooded back into his mind.

"Lloyd…" Dirk muttered under his breath, already catching the hint.

The young boy glanced up with a big fake smile, trying to brighten up the situation. "But don't worry Dad, I'm getting used to this. This whole seeing death before it happens. I'm no longer affected by it but this one kinda shaken me up. It…startled me."

"It's also not as common as it was before when you were younger. You're about eight years old right now and those dreams seem to haunt you less and less each day. I still remember back then, you looked like you were hallucinating and would get high fevers that would have killed normal people. Not even the doctors could figure out what was wrong with you or even the cause. I'm amazed along with those doctors that you are still alive today after all that."

The boy silently groaned, he could never find it in his heart to tell his father the real reason for his troubles. His powers, gotten ever since he was born, had been placing a painful pressure on his body, weakening him time to time. It seemed to him that he had been able to gain control of it to a certain amount but avoided using it completely not matter what the situation was. If there was someone about to die and he had the ability to save him, he would look away pretending to be unable to help. And there was a reason to that, if there was one thing he hated the most, and that was to be called a freak or a monster. If people weren't careful on what they say, they could awaken the violent and bloodthirsty personality inside Lloyd, the one that the boy had buried deep underneath his soul and if released, might kill them. Lloyd couldn't leave a person alive if they saw his powers and was a great pretender at everything. At school, he would pretend to not know anything and never studied the material to make things seem more real so that Raine or Genis would never figure it out.

Lloyd decided to take a gamble on a certain subject. "I've seen Cloud wandering around today outside. However when I tried to talk to him, he disappeared into the forest before I got a chance." Cloud was a person that had appeared a few years back when he had figured out his powers. The man had given him helpful hints and helps him gain control of his abilities by showing him. The only problem was that Lloyd was the only one that could see him.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, you know maybe as I grow older, my nightmares might come to a stop."

Dirk sighed in relief, letting a small smile appear. "Yes, let's hope that."

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Present time…

"Hey, Lloyd!" A voice called out through his mind, forcing him to reopen his eyes. The Eternal swordsmen flinched at the brightness of the sun, instantly shutting them. He peeked slowly, getting his brown eyes used to the light and once the intense luminosity faded down to a mere irritation, he glanced over, watching the red headed ex-chosen running up the hill to meet him. Lloyd could see the long scarlet hair flinging side to side and Zelos' right hand waving out with a large grin greeting him. Zelos slowed his pace to a simple walk and stopped in front of Lloyd, leaning over. "So _this_ is where you've been."

"Yeah." Lloyd flipped his legs up then down; using the force to push himself up. He stretched out his arms; there was the sound of bone and muscles that were stiff, cracking at the pressure. He covered his mouth with the right hand, trying to stifle out a yawn that was crawling up his throat. His hair was slightly tilted to the side from the slumber and he bristled off a few bugs that had found its way to his red jacket. The brown pools gazed upward to Zelos' blue ones. "Have you come to get me?"

"Yeah, Bud. Lunch is ready and don't worry, Genis cooked." Zelos had said the last part rather quickly after spotting a fearful expression from the younger boy.

"Oh good, if it was Raine, you're not bringing me back no matter _what_ happens." The last time the Professor had cooked, it had left a terrified scar on each of the team members. Lloyd had been one of those victims that had managed to stay healthy throughout the whole horrifying ordeal. The others had fallen so sick that they had to be sent to a doctor for food poisoning and stayed there for a week, throwing up the food that was given to them. Lloyd shuttered at the mere thought of it and pushed it away.

"Don't worry, Bud. Everyone would run if she was cooking right now." The ex-chosen let out a hearty laughter while Lloyd took that moment to stand, pushing his weight up.

The Eternal Swordsmen glanced over to the red head then suddenly sprinted down the hill, laughing. Zelos yelled out a 'Hey! No fair!' and trailed right afterwards, trying to catch up. Lloyd could feel his white swallowtails dancing and tangling up behind him as he moved. The wind came from behind, giving him an extra push of movement. As they reached the little camp that they and the others had made for a break, they slowed down to a light jog. Everyone was circled around a fire with a metal pot in the middle, waiting patiently for the food to get served. The area was surrounded by trees; thickly dense together so that the light couldn't get through. Vines crept off the branches and when the wind blew, brittle leaves would break off, spinning in circles. There was an eerie darkness that seeped out from the woods and it seemed that only Lloyd noticed it. A dark shade that crawled over the trees and seemed to call out to the group with its scratchy voice appeared from behind the darkness. No one could hear it, of course, but Lloyd could and he did his best to ignore it, trying to make himself seem normal. Colette noticed the two first with her angel senses and turned to them, her long golden hair twirling around.

"Lloyd, lunch is ready!" She called out, waving her arm and motioning them over. "Genis is about to serve it right now."

"Yeah…" The swordsmen heaved out, out of breath. "I've heard about it from Zelos already."

"Oh, okay."

Six months had passed since the defeat of Mithos and destruction of the plan of the 'Age of Lifeless Beings'; the group had gone their separate ways for a while, trying to fix up everything in their own lives before coming back together once more for one last adventure. Kratos had gone to Derris Kharlan while the Renegades and their leader, Yuan, went around, trying to help half-elves get treated better. However, that wasn't easy though, discrimination ran deep and wasn't something that could easily get rid of. For Lloyd, he just traveled around with Noishe, collecting exspheres and wandering the lands all at once. Secretly, he had trained himself, trying to gain more control on his powers but no one is going to know that furtive. Regal had gone back to company to oversee the destruction of the exsphere mines and insured that no man would ever find them again. Sheena had moved her village, since she was now the chief, to the Linkite Tree area and remained there hidden from the rest of the world. Colette decided to live a peaceful life in her village with everyone after throwing away her chosen title. Genis and Raine traveled around, hoping to make life easier for their kind while looking for ruins to explore, well, that's for the older Sage, the younger one just gets dragged along. Presea helped out with Regal at work and sometimes became the mascot for the amusement park, cheering the little children and keeping watch when parents wandered away. Zelos lived in his large mansion after giving up the chosen title too but that didn't mean he wouldn't stop his continuous attack on the females. Though the red head was still at his ways, he held some power over the town and also helped the king as a right-hand man, making some new laws (of course, he didn't like that). The group was so used to traveling with each other that it was uncomfortable when they were alone and decided that they would take a vacation together so here they are.

Lloyd sat down between Colette and Zelos as Genis came around, pouring the stew into the bowls that had been placed neatly in front of each person. "I bet this'll be good as always." Lloyd commented, smiling as his childhood friend passed by.

Genis glanced over with a smirk. "Of course, Lloyd. Who do you think you're talking to?"

"You're right, I almost for-"

Lloyd froze in mid speech, staring off into the distance mouth gaping open. He squinted his eyes, seeing something black floating forward from the trees. He recognized the short dirty blond hair and the blood eyes that stared back at him coldly without a single amount of emotion in them. The man walked through Regal and stopped in front of Lloyd, his black clock moving on its own as there was no source of wind. Everyone looked as if they were frozen in time, unmoving, and unchanging. They didn't even blink or breathe except for him and the man standing ahead. Genis was struck; the spoon in his hand was tilted to the side where the immobilized stew was half-poured into the bowl.

He breathed out the name that came to his mind without even knowing. "Cloud…"

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If anyone got confused, it'll be thoroughly explained in the next one so please hold all questions until then, I promise.

What do you think, oh, please review! It helps you know.


	2. He of Death

**Black Terror**

**Author: Metamorcy**

**Rating: M**

**Disclaimer**: same as before

**N/A**: Sorry, I was delayed by the enemy of mankind called school; there were so many tests, too much to study for and not enough time to type. Oh and before I go on, there are no pairings in this, just to let everyone know.

**6/04/09 this had been edited for spelling**

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Chapter 2: He of Death

"Cloud."

Lloyd stared at the man, watching the blond hair fly when there was no wind present. Cloud gave a tiny reassuring smile and kneeled down so he was parallel with Lloyd's head. He was floating in mid-air as if an invisible stool was underneath, holding him up.

Lloyd regained his compose and spoke in alarm, his lips whispering the words without realizing it. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Cloud stood there, not even stirring an inch from his spot. "I've just come to say 'Hi'. It's been awhile since I've last seen you."

"So you're come back." Lloyd stood up, staring at the man that had appeared throughout his entire childhood. The last time he had seen Cloud was over a few years ago and that was only for a short time, maybe a minute or two. He had never appeared or even spoken throughout the whole Chosen Regeneration and beyond that. It was as if he didn't like being near people even though they had no ability to see or hear him. Now that he thought about it, it was probably because he knew something about the group that Lloyd didn't, even _before_ learning all the misfortunes that had happened in each person's life.

Lloyd understood that the man was a mystery itself, hardly speaking about anything, only when necessary. He always wanted answers, but he never got them, kept in the dark all the time. Now was the best time to get some. "Tell me, who are you _really_? I hardly know anything about you and ever since I was little, you taught me about swordsmanship, about my powers but there was one thing you never said and that was about yourself. I refuse to be kept in the shadows any longer."

Lloyd had actually known from the very beginning how to fight, how to kill, everything _but_ he was like an actor in a play he couldn't stop, never showing his true colors to any one. He went through the whole journey without using them and reunited the world with his own _normal_ abilities and friends. A happy ending for the people that lived in Symphonia, _but_ the truth was that there was _no_ such thing as a _happy_ ending. This wasn't a fairy tale where everything would brighten up after a death or like the story when the princess gets kidnapped and saved. Nothing about Lloyd's life was a cheery tale. He had his ups and downs, twists and turns, and even the pain that admitted from his chest continuously proved to it. If his life was to be written down into a book, it would be bloody, cruel and filled with death just like his soul.

Cloud closed his eyes taking in a deep breath, maybe it _was_ time. "Perhaps I'll start all over with the introductions. My name is Cloud." He calmly spoke with a highly dignified and knowledgeable tone. His coat fluttered with the current, the ends and tails twirling in several directions. "Although, I think you already know that." Cloud added quietly to himself but Lloyd managed to catch the hush whisper. "I'm the former Guardian of Death who died over a hundred years ago. A guardian is a being that is an entity of the power. However, my soul fused with it making me the power itself." Cloud paused for a second, glancing over to the twin swordsmen to make sure that the boy was following along. Lloyd wasn't, he was zoning out. The man almost twitched and slapped Lloyd across the back of his head, waking him up.

Lloyd let out a yelp of pain, catering his head in between his hands while muttering colorful curses under his breath.

"Later on, it transferred into your body before birth and now belongs solely to you. You've became the Guardian of Death with the powers combining with your soul long ago. As for me, right now, I can wander with you, going wherever you go but soon, I'll have to leave, my soul dissipating back into nothingness."

Lloyd's expression changed into one of fear but Cloud stopped that.

"But don't worry; I'll leave when I believe you are ready to go on." Cloud stood back up, looking large and the sealed lips were small almost went unnoticed. Lloyd detected a something in tone, so small that it would have gone overlooked if he wasn't used to this type of treatment. Cloud was _lying_.

Lloyd glanced over to his friends, eyeing them carefully. When he went back to Cloud, he sighed, feeling somewhat tired. "I kinda knew all about that. I'm still able to see how and when people are going to die. No one knows about that except Dad, you, Noishe and me. Everyone else that has somehow noticed it has ended up dead or disappears into the darkness, never to be seen again."

"I know; I've watch over you all this time. I know your fears, your sadness and your pain even the positive feelings that overflow in your emotions. And it seems that you've kept my advice all this time to keep _it_ under control."

Lloyd shaked his head, he understood what advice Cloud had given to him. "Yeah, if I don't want to get sick, I needed my heart and mind strong." There was _a reason _for doing all that, over the years he had gained a split personality, a cruel one that enjoyed tormenting people. Its not as if it was an entirely different soul living inside but just something that was there, making Lloyd's life both blissful and complicated. There was no name for him as _he_ was Lloyd himself, the dark part, the hidden one isolated in a brittle cage in the back of his mind. Sometimes, Lloyd could hear the evil voice in his mind, taunting him to betray his friends and dismember them apart, make them scream in agony and perish under his command. He couldn't stop himself once _he_ took over; it was something that _wouldn't_ stop until it satisfied the growing bloodlust. It had happened many times before, the dark self overwriting Lloyd's normal one and going on a bloody rampage. It wasn't that he was angry that he had been locked up, no; it was just to see the amusement and fun of blood and didn't give a care for anyone else. Lloyd never knew what he had done until it was too late to fix it, to patch up all the bleeding scars of those around him, after all, _Lloyd_ was the one who was doing _all_ the work.

Old memories flooded into Lloyd's mind, the time when he had a fever of a hundred and six, going into a disillusioned state. He had gone crazy, disappearing into the woods and running around like some kind of manic with a bloodlust. Cloud, Noishe and Dirk had followed along, searching all over Sylvarant for the runaway six year old child. It had taken a month, going city to city, and opening up places they never wanted to return to. They had found him outside of Palmacosta doing something that couldn't be told to anyone but they were only three left after the massacre that had seen the process. Everyone else had died.

_

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_

Lloyd laughed.

He did it again, over and over, scaring all those around him. Noishe whined, backing away, frightened by the present state of his master. Dirk did the same, his hands tightening on the hammer, ready to strike if the need came to it. Lloyd raised his hand upon the people; his hair flattened down from the cold rain. There were about twenty humans, surrounding the mad boy but none of them were moving as if their time had stopped. The air grew frosty with rain beating down on the people and sending shivers down their spines. Their bodies were frozen, eyes only able to move and watch the horror that would be unleashed upon their pitiful souls. Lloyd grinned widely, his face twisted into a crazy gaze. He was enjoying himself, the blood, the death and the screams of his victims. It was simply wonderful and he was having the time of his life (well short one) and he _wanted_ more. He wanted to caress the blood on him, in-between his fingers and to _taste_ it on his lips.

"Lloyd, snap out of it!" Cloud called out, summoning a magic field around himself and the other two. He knew what spell Lloyd was going to cast and that alarmed his senses. He could have tried to protect the local tour group as well but his powers were limited. He could only stand still and observe as Lloyd giggled, about to kill everyone off. "Don't let it take you, Lloyd! You need to control it!"

The boy started laughing again, brown eyes widening in humor as the people cried out in fear. "You'll all die now! Death Sentence!" His hand waved around in a circle, a light appearing at the top of the fingers, making the ring as it went. It lighted up vibrantly, casting away the darkness of the night. Lines traveled inside mixing around and then began to radiant, the spell had been done. The tour groups' eyes widen, the pupils turning small as if they could see death eating them from the inside. A second later, their bodies, all twenty of them, exploded in a silent boom. It had come from the inside like a bomb with no timer, ripping the flesh apart and sending them flying everywhere. Lloyd crackled out loud as the blood rained down on him, splattering all over his small frame. He held his hands out wide, feeling the warm liquid as it ran down his flesh.

There was no stopping him now, and Cloud knew that. His hands squeezed tightly calling upon an unholy sword, something he used back in the past to attack. He started praying inside his heart that he wouldn't need to use it for defense.

Blood drenched Lloyd, dripping off his limbs like running water from a faucet. The rain that fell mixed with it, spilling the liquid into the earth where it was sucked up greedily. Body parts were separated from each other, fingers ripped, arms and legs torn off, throats clawed into and the eyes and hair covered in life's juice. Lloyd continued his cackle, his own eyes, both of them, turned glowing red, casting its evil gazed at any unfortunate idiot that came too close.

Cloud gritted his teeth, his expressions changing slightly. His eyebrows tilted downward, there was no way he would be able to reverse such a deadly spell as Death Sentence. It was a special spell only given and learned to certain people but there were only fifteen in the entire universe that actually could use it without it back firing on them. Depending on the person's desire, it would measure the time left and put that into a second to a minute. If someone wanted the person to live for five more seconds then die of a heart attack that person would do so. Lloyd had wanted all the people around him to perish instantly and explode from the insides, giving out as much pain as possible. And once the spell is cast, there's no turning back.

Cloud closed his eyes, trying to figure out a way to stop the out of control Lloyd. They opened up, still deep in thought, taking a glimpse of the boy and suddenly realized something.

_Was Lloyd crying _or_ was it the rain?_

His red eyes peered strongly at the child, Lloyd _wasn't_ crying, it was just the rain but the sickening expression was gone and the red eyes had faded back into the clear brown ones. A blank expression was masked over the other; Lloyd didn't want to cry; to cry was like submitting to his darker self and he didn't want to _lose_. Cloud canceled the barrier, rushing forward to the crestfallen child.

"Lloyd!" He reached out and grasped him, holding the boy tightly. Dirk and Noishe quickly followed, surrounding Lloyd with worried looks. The boy glanced up into the sky, unable to look at the three that cared the most about him. He had done it _again_, his heart knew it. The taste of copper in his mouth and the smell of death only certain his mind, telling him that he had killed people once more.

The boy didn't speak, his eyes fading away into the darkness, clouded. His lips were parted and some of the rain slipped in. The hair flopped down, fully drenched to the roots, and it weighted heavily on him. The rain that fell got even colder, almost turning to hail.

Cloud backed away, his expressions changing to that of shock for a moment as Lloyd shot up, wandering away from the three. He asked, his voice as normal as could be. "Lloyd?"

"I'm sorry." The brown eyes closed, not even wanting to look back, he didn't want to see their expressions. His eyes were disconsolate and far away and gazed over to the ocean that was close by. It was nice, raging with the storm, numerous waves high in the air crashed against the sandy beaches. It would be wonderful to be the ocean, to do something the same way for the rest of his life, and change when the currents did. The wind blew, brushing on his face painfully; the chilly atmosphere felt dense and pulled Lloyd down. He felt as if he was about to collapse but it wasn't the weather that was bringing him down; it was the usage of his powers. They might be powerful but it took a drastic toll on him physically.

Cloud understood what Lloyd was trying to do and admired it. Dirk and Noishe watched as the child sobbed from the inside unable to do a thing. The storm's wrath fumed for hours on end with no end in sight, the trees were ripped out of their peaceful home. Lloyd didn't mind, the rain felt good and helped clear his mind to the world and then he fell like a delicate twig to the muddy earth.

* * *

Lloyd shaked his head, trying to get rid of the memory and stored it away. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't met his other personality for a while, maybe he _had_ gotten better at keeping it down.

"You're gotten stronger physically but if you let your heart waver, _it'll_ come back. But that also works the other way too, the stronger your heart is the more powerful you get." Cloud paused for a moment, thinking of a way to start the next topic. When nothing came up, he just spoke the same as always. "The nightmares that you see are all real, some can be prevented, some can't. You have the ability to control it but at this moment, you're not strong enough so that will have to wait until later."

"I…see." Lloyd muttered, still trying to get a grasp of everything even though he was used to this. His auburn pools watched Cloud come closer, sitting down at another seat further away. The twin swordsmen followed right behind, flopping next to the older man. He noticed that Cloud was still floating even when he sat; it was as if he wasn't allowed to make contact. The cloak was so tightly wrapped that there was no telling where the beginning and end was. "How long have you been with me?"

"From the day you were born, but I've allowed no one to see me. Not even your parents could or even Noishe at that time. It would be bad if they saw some kind of ghost following their son."

Lloyd snickered, closing his eyes and imaging the picture. "Are you trying to be funny?"

Cloud shoved it off with a 'hump'. "Maybe."

Lloyd went deep into thought, putting a finger on his chin. His eyes glimpsed at the man then towards the ground. "Then can you tell me what my parents were like, you know, when they were together?"

Cloud's ruby pools had a light smile in them. "Don't you already know _who_ they are?"

"Of course, I do but there's a slight problem with that. They're all gone. Kratos is in Derris Kharlan and Mom is dead. I can't ask them how everything went between them when neither of them are here. Could you, by any chance, tell me if they were happy or not together?""

"They…They were happy even though they had to run town to town, hiding from Cruxis at all costs. Even when you were born, nothing changed. They tried their best to make the better of their situation like trying to buy stuff for you or hide in places that would make them smile." Cloud flicked his wrist, revealing the pale skin underneath the blackness. "Kratos really loved you, whenever you gave this cute baby face, he would start hugging you, muttering words about how adorable you are. Anna also did the same thing except she's the one who gave you sweets like cookies."

Lloyd leaned closer, listening intently to the blond-haired man.

"They would sometimes stay in inns, mostly outside but if they passed by Luin, they would sleep in Anna's home. There they would get new supplies and rest for a week or two, visiting everyone they knew then left again. After all, Luin was near a human ranch and Kvar was the owner of that place. Three years later after you were born, she got captured near the Iselia ranch and…you know what happens next."

Cloud glanced over to Lloyd and then to Noishe, who was frozen in mid step, the wet tongue sticking out. He snapped his fingers and the protozoan began to walking again, heading over to the two. His tail was wagging side to side, excited to see the former guardian. Lloyd tilted his head and cast a look at Cloud, who was half smiling on his pale lips, reaching out to rub the furry head. Noishe sat down in front of Cloud, his tongue back in the mouth.

Cloud paused in mid scratch.

Suddenly Lloyd stood up, something _wasn't_ right. He heard shuffling in the woods, too loud to be a mere monster and hadn't time stopped along ago? Everyone should still be trapped in it, ensnarled in its magical grasp. Cloud noticed it but did nothing, remaining seated. He wanted Lloyd to do the work, not him. Noishe crawled closer, whining, afraid of being attacked.

"Who's there?" The guardian called out, pulling out his twin swords. Another rustle shifted at one direction then switched to another, this time further away. The voices of the forest seemed closer then before and the darkness that surrounded it from inside was starting to creep out. Multiple vines came alive, growing at a rapid rate, wrapping themselves around the branches and ground. Lloyd took a step forward and detected a small hint, the breathing of a person and dashed to that spot before whoever could react. He watched as the bushes shifted, a figure stepping out, rushing to the next hiding spot. Lloyd wasn't able to get a good look and followed right behind not once taking his eyes off. They ran through the woods, neither growing weary of the stress they were placing on their bodies but the guardian was gaining speed at an increasing pace. It didn't take long for him to catch up, going head to head with the person in an all out running duel. The blades crashed together in the blackness, flashes of light appeared and disappeared every few moments when they met. The two were at a standstill, neither managing to defeat the other and Lloyd was still unable to see the face or anything, the obscurity of the forest covering up his identity.

Lloyd called out again, this time a bit irritated by the unresponsive person. "What the hell do you want?"

The person didn't answer, lunging himself at the eternal swordsman, a long sword in the air ready to come crashing down. Lloyd jumped to the side, twirled around, using the force to kick the man in the stomach, sending him flying back into a solid tree. A grunt of pain was heard then a cough chocked from the person. The brunet glimpsed, he had broken one of the ribs, no matter; the person was going to die anyway. He stood in front, eyes piercing the man coldly. He spoke one last time, hoping that the man would come out and say it. "Do you have any answers?"

The man shaked his head, keeping his lips sealed.

"I guess I have no choice." Lloyd jammed the sword forward, driving it into the chest. It wasn't his own sword but the enemy's that killed the man (he had taken it). He dug it so deep that it even went through the tree, killing it too and cutting off its roots. Lloyd pulled away, made sure that the man was dead before proceeding to slicing the guy's head off. The flesh rolled off, bumping over the rocks until it stopped close to the guardian's red boots. His gloves gripped the short hair, yanked it up for a better view but there was no light that seeped through the dark leaves. Finding nothing, he swung his arm tossing the head aside. As he wandered away, he snapped his fingers, destroying part of the time-freezing spell that would allow the monsters to move. He could tell that the moment they caught scent of blood, they rushing for the corpse, snarling at the fresh meat. Wolfs, bears and every meat-eating monster came, ripping the intestines and skin apart, gobbling it up. The cracking of bones filled the air and even silenced the crickets. Growls of hunger passed and Lloyd didn't even need to look back to see if the person had been fully devoured or not, it didn't matter to him. The camp was far off and had to rush back, Cloud still waiting at the same spot.

"How'd it go?" The former guardian asked, calming Noishe down next to him.

"Got nothing out of him so I quickly killed him. The group won't find his body; the monsters are or already done feasting on him."

"I see."

Cloud glanced around, checking if there was any more enemies but found none, the place was empty and barren of life besides the ones centered at the campfire and the monsters in the back. Lloyd eyes faded, his mind going back to his own past. The Guardian of Death remembered a disturbing moment of his time in the woods. He liked to be outside with nature, it was peaceful and the sound of the birds squawking was soothing. The fresh smell of grass and ripping fruits would fill his senses but his predicament wasn't far away.

* * *

Lloyd reached out to a large flower; it was pretty and red unlike the others. He didn't take notice of the sharp prickly thorns that were protecting it and when he did, it was too late. The split second of pain came and he reacted like anyone else by yanking away. His fingers may have retracted but the flesh ripped against the blade upward, his lips hissed in pain and glanced down on his pricked finger. The flesh had been torn off, revealing a large gapping hole going all the way down from the top of the thumb to the bottom. Sticky red liquid ran down the skin, leaving trails of blood. Lloyd stared at it, watching it tinkle down to the arm to the elbow and drip off. He suddenly grinned, leaning over and stuck out his tongue. It ran across the warm surface, picking up the blood. The limb pulled back, wiping it across his lips, making them turn crimson. His grin deepened to a disturbing one as his eyes turned the color of blood and gazed in amusement as it continued to run down.

He continued to sweep up the fluid until it stopped with the cut only remaining. It started to heal away, the flesh binding itself together and it vanished, leaving the skin flawless. The red eyes faded back to the brown ones and Lloyd shaked his head, trying to get the image of what he had been doing before out. He couldn't believe what he had just done. He wanted to throw up but his stomach couldn't, feeling empty. Two hands went to his mouth, rubbing away the left over blood and washed it away into the stream that was nearby. The guardian was frightened of his other personality, the one that made him do disgusting things but there was nothing he could do. He had to live with it and one day surrender to it. It obvious that it would happen since he can't keep control of it forever…and what would happen after that? Lloyd smiled sadly.

* * *

Cloud noticed the foreign stare, and spoke up, breaking Lloyd back into the real world. "I need to give you a warning, you'll need to get used to using your powers, you'll be needing it later."

Lloyd didn't even look over even as Cloud disappeared and time began to move again. The others talked to each other while Genis pour the thick stew into the bowls.

"Lloyd?" Zelos scratched his head looking between the swordsmen and Noishe. "How'd you and Noishe get all the way over there?"

"Huh?" The eternal swordsmen glanced around slightly surprised by the question. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you were right here." Zelos pointed to the seat between him and Colette and then to Lloyd's spot at his other side. "The second I blink, you're right there."

Lloyd nervously laughed, hugging the creature in his arms around the neck. "Maybe you closed your eyes longer then you expected."

"…Maybe."

The twin swordsman stood up, dragging the protozoan to the other side and fed him some of the food. He ruffled the green and white fur, beaming when he heard the creature whine. Lloyd headed back to his old seat and picked up his bowl, about to dig in. "Genis, it looks yummy."

"You already said something like that already." The magician huffed, putting everything back on the fire.

"I know, but it's true." Lloyd took a spoonful, placing it inside his mouth. There was short silence between the group as they ate but once it was halfway done, the talking started up again. The whole camp was filled with voices until the sun began to set beyond the horizon. The clean up went by quickly as Sheena washed the dishes with her ninja speed. Lloyd headed to a spot slightly farther away from his friends and lay down. The soft tall grass edged into the clothes and prickled his neck. He was closer to the dark woods, the voices of them grew louder but that didn't bother the guardian. The dark aura that was radiated from it wasn't able to touch anyone and pull him/her into the abyss. Noishe whined and poked Lloyd's red shirt at the arm with his cold wet nose. The Eternal Swordsmen glanced over and sat up, sending a questioning look. "What is it, Noishe? Don't tell me you're still hungry?"

'No, he wants you to sleep on him. He says it's for protection.' A voice entered Lloyd's mind, unheard by the others.

"I see so you want me to use you as a pillow, huh. Fine be like that." Lloyd shifted roughly, allowing the beast to lie down before getting tackled by the Guardian of Death. He snuggled into the warm fur, sucking in the doggy smell. It felt nice and comfy with the fur prickling his checks. Once he got comfortable, he released the beast, moving his arms back. The swordsmen turned so he could face the heavens where the stars were starting to sparkle brightly and the moon large and round. It cast its pale radiance on him and lightened up the dark shade of the forest so that everything could be seen as clear as the clouds in the blue sky. Lloyd glanced to the others for a moment and noticed that some had already headed off to their own places in different directions, a couple feet away from one another.

'Nice night, isn't it.'

'Yeah." Lloyd could see the faded Derris Kharlan in the atmosphere, floating along with the rest of the stars. 'I hope Da-I mean Kratos is doing fine.'

'He should be.' Cloud's voice muttered, slowly departing from Lloyd's conscious mind, leaving nothing but emptiness.

The Eternal Swordsmen closed his eyes, the night getting to him, and dozed off to a miserable slumber.

* * *

The heavens were crying just like before except this time it was in a city. A large one surrounded by numerous building and homes. At the top was a castle was where the King of Tethe'alla ruled, on the left was the coliseum and on the right was where Zelos lived. The flooded pools of water was red, a deep dark scarlet with a hint of light reflection from the light posts. Lloyd's foot stepped into it, the liquid splashed, rising up into the dense air, staining his dark blue overalls. The blood seeped into it, making the clothes feel heavy and cold. The chilly air bit at his flesh and the blood spread like water, washing off walls and heading down the stone stair cases. A body slept on the floor, the face in the water and hair tossed in a mess. Lloyd took a step forward, recognizing the features and clothes but he was frightened to name who it was. He wanted to run forward, fall to his knees and shake the person awake; hoping to whoever lived above would keep this one man alive.

Lloyd knew that this was a dream, one of the usual nightmares that haunted him even when he was awake; the ones that always became _real_ and kept him up to the wee hours of the night. The body had been _stabbed_. Multiple times with a sword and that only proved it as one of them was struck into the chest where the heart rested. Blood oozed from the mouth with the red eyes, wide open in shock and clouded in lifelessness. The man was dead and Lloyd could prove that, he had seen enough death to know when one's soul and life force had completely left the body. It was now a shell, rotting and freezing in the rain.

The arms on the body were broken, bent in an awkward direction never to be used again. The sword lying next to the man was forgotten, thrown away by the killer. There was blood on it, and by the smell of it, it wasn't the attackers but the man's. He had been stabbed by his own weapon and the evidence was being washed away. The man's red hair was drenched with both liquid but still remained the slanted spikes and the multiple belt Cruxis uniform was darkened after absorbing the sticky liquid.

Lloyd sighed, knowing where he was going next.

'Kratos…'

* * *

Okay yeah, I liked this one much better than before, sorry for the confusion.


	3. The Terror Begins

**Black Terror**

**Author: Metamorcy**

**Rating: M**

**Disclaimer**: Do I _have_ to repeat this many times, I don't own anything, nothing, zip, zero.

**6/04/09 this had been edited for spelling**

**

* * *

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Chapter 3: The terror begins

Lloyd rushed towards Meltokio, riding on Noishe for extra speed. The wind whipped at him in the face, sometimes blinding his eyesight for a short period. His body was leaned forward for better speed, the feeling of something against him lessened considerably but the air resistance continued to counter their hurried movements and Lloyd was beginning to get impatient. Cloud was next to him, flying in midair, his black coat flapping behind like a feather caught in the currents.

"How much time do we have left?!" Lloyd cried out, trying to get his voice heard but the wind snapped it away. His white swallowtails were shooting out from behind, dragged back by the forceful pull.

Cloud's ruby eyes gazed over, managing to catch the silenced words. His body flew through anything that stood in his way even the forest trees. "A few more minutes from mid-night. Are you sure it was a good idea to leave behind the others?" Cloud shifted closer, not too much or else he might spook Noishe. "Won't they get mad after this is all done and over with?"

"Don't worry, I left them a note, they know where I'm going." Lloyd shuttered at the thought of Raine finding out. He could just imagine it; her screaming, clearly pissed off with her face all red in anger. Yep, he's in _so_ much trouble right now.

"Are you actually imaging how they're going to react?" Cloud laughed, observing Lloyd's expression from a distance. He could see what was going on in the guardian's mind after knowing him for so long. "You're going to have such a dilemma with them."

"Yeah, I already know that." Lloyd leaned forward to make the air resistance less as Noishe continued to plunge himself faster. The stone walls of Meltokio were in sight, risen high above the ground. Cloud was first to react, flying higher, calculating that it would take too long to go through the sewers and that there was a likely chance that they would be shut off for the intruders. He went above the wall, the wind stronger up here, fluttering his coat until it looked like wings flapping gracefully. His ruby pools gazed at the two rushing up from behind on the ground and pointed out to them, muttering something. Lloyd tried to hear it but the wind took the voice away, he even attempted lip-reading but his skills were poor and Cloud was too far away. The moon was at his back, casting a dark shadow over the man's front. He flicked his right hand, creating a black line of darkness that was quickly gathering itself from the night. It landed on the road; a little rumble like an earthquake was created, shaking the ground. A black light formed from it, slowly pushing itself up. Noishe stopped, spreading his feet across so he wouldn't fall off the side. Lloyd leaned over, taking notice of the growing height and gazed to the town's defensive walls.

"Noishe, go, we can make it now!" Lloyd cried out, edging the beast on. Noishe stated running again, using the barrier as a stair case and rushed up to the top. The moment they reached it, Lloyd stood up on Noishe's back, somehow managing to keep his feet stable and jumped to the nearest building. He soared across with such grace like a bird that as he landed not a sound could be heard. His white swallowtails twirled in multiple directions until it fell callously to his back. Noishe hadn't even reached the bottom of the ground yet when Lloyd began roof hopping, jumping from one building to the next, gaining height at a rapid speed. He didn't even bother looking to see if Noishe was right behind or not. There was no time left. The guardian grinded his teeth together in frustration and leaped to the last one before going over the edge, he didn't want to get caught up here. In the distance of the middle level was a bench, a plain old bench where people sat on. Today, however, sat the famous Kratos Aurion, one of the mighty seraphim, and he wasn't aware that he was going to die soon. Lloyd could sense three presences in the area, one behind him, Noishe, the one in front, Kratos and the killer somewhere in the bushes waiting for the best time to strike for a quick kill. Kratos, on the other hand, was just sitting there leisurely, reading in his hands what appeared to be a book. The sword was at his waist, hanging off the side and the mop of red hair covered whatever expressions the man might have had.

The guardian of death's eyes scanned the lot first and then ran forward calling out to his father. "Dad!"

The older man made a visible flinch and almost dropped his book in shock. He instantly glanced over to his son, a smile breaking out as he was filled with joy at seeing one of the people he cared the most. He froze though as he detected the hurried and frightened tone in the voice and almost paused to let his son come to him.

Lloyd rushed to the other and before Kratos could get a word out, the guardian pushed him across the field with strength that seemed similar to Colette's or Presea's. A large blade, a knife, was set into Kratos' previous spot, and if the man had been there a moment later, it would have crushed into the neck. Lloyd's eyes turned to the direction it came from, noticing something fast rushing towards his forehead. He ducked, another knife managing to make a slit on his left swallowtail. The cloth didn't come off, hanging on by an inch. Lloyd, grumbled, glancing back at the handmade dwarf clothes then to the enemy. He detected that the assassin was no longer in the area he had thrown from and hastily scanned the surrounding place him. Cloud had disappeared off somewhere and Noishe was at Kratos' side, lifting him up. The eyes turned red for a moment then back to brown to show his annoyance. His ears detected a rustle and when he rotated, catching the sight of a black shadow soaring into the air, right above Kratos and Noishe's head. A low growl escaped Lloyd's lips as he dashed to the other side, intercepting the blade with his bare hands. It was caught in-between his index and middle fingers, trapped without even loosing an ounce of blood or even cutting his gloves.

Lloyd grinned, gazing at the assassin's surprised expression. The man had stopped for a second, bewildered, and Lloyd took that moment to push the man back and crunch his fists together into a tightly ball, landing an upward punch into the stomach. There was the sound of ribs breaking and a chocking cough as the shadowed man tried to breath, the wind knocked out of him. He stumbled back a few feet, holding the chest, grinding his teeth together and glared harshly at the guardian.

"Noishe!" Lloyd called out, keeping a sharp eye on the stunned assassin for any unforeseen movements. "Grab Kratos and go! I'll take care of him!"

The guardian rushed forward, pulling out his twin swords and tried to end the battle quickly. The assassin dodged, rolling to the side then jumped back a couple steps, running into the bushes for cover. Noishe moved as told, lifting Kratos up by using his teeth, yanking on the shirt. The seraphim argued, getting him self dragged by the tails didn't look well on his image. A loud 'clank' made Kratos' ruby pools go to his son out of fear and worry. A knife flew off, deflected by the flat side of Lloyd's sword, slamming itself a few feet away. A wet slobber touched Kratos' neck, making him shiver and shift his attention to the green and white beast. He struggled again, trying to break free from the indissoluble hold.

"Release me, Noishe! Now!" Kratos ordered, still having his normal face there. His eyes had changed though but that was hidden away underneath the messy mop of red hair. When the creature didn't listen, the seraphim screamed out colorful curses, demanding to be let go.

Lloyd glanced over, giggling at the scene, almost forgetting about the battle at hand. Noishe managed to get the older man down the stairs and disappeared from the field. A sigh of relief came from the twin swordsman as he closed his eyes, concentrating on the killer's location. A silence went on between the two; the wind blowing, shuffling the leaves. 'There!' He snapped his eyes open, finding the exact position of the assassin. A black mist surrounded his sword and threw a dashed line like demon fang but a different color across the stone floor. It torn apart the ground until it connected with a tree, exploding on contact with a quiet rumble. A thick grey smoke filled the area with the moonlight helping Lloyd target the enemy with its pale radiance.

"It seems you dodged that too, not bad." The guardian called out, standing still so he wouldn't make a sound.

"I could say the same thing for you, Lloyd Irving." The man spoke through the smoke perfectly clear. "I'm quite amazed that you can still be that powerful even though you haven't fought for such a long time."

Lloyd glanced to the side, catching a glimpse of the man. "Oh really? And how do you know my name?"

"Research, we had to know everything about our targets before setting out. You just happen to be the target's only son."

"I see. And you're just made an amateur mistake."

The eternal swordsman rushed to the opposite direction, his eyes piercing through the grayness. He outstretched his right hand, the blade pointed out in the front. It crashed into something that made a squishy sound, flesh, and there were the wondrous sounds of bones being torn apart as it went in. A cry of pain came from the man and then a chocked scream for help. The mist faded, revealing the stomach of the killer stabbed into with the sword pushing deeper, tearing out the back and spilling more blood all around. "Never talk during a battle, it just might help your enemy and plus…you really need to learn how to conceal your breathing, I could hear you a mile away."

Lloyd yanked back, listening to the man squirm in agony and tried not to grin in pleasure. The body flew back, still alive and kicking, and crawled to the set of stairs that went up to the third level. Lloyd managed to get a good look at the garbs, reflecting that of a ninja. They were the same as the last person who had tried to attack yesterday. The shirt was black, skin tight, and the pants were also the same but there was a belt along the top. Lloyd sighed, observing the man as he touched the bottom step and gave in, collapsing. Lloyd moved forward, concentrating on another attack, one that would be painless. He let the swords' tip fall downward onto the stones, clawing at it with a screeching noise.

The assassin coughed up blood, throwing it below him, eyes widening in terror as he heard the sword scratch across the rock. He tried to stand back up but the pain in his stomach and his broken ribs wouldn't allow him.

"Raining horror." The guardian whispered those final words and swung his blades down. It looked like the same as the last move except it was more like a black wave. A sphere surrounded the man, a black one, engulfing any thing that was trapped inside with a misty darkness creeping out in every direction until the wind blew, tossing it aside. It ate away the cement and stone as it grew smaller until it became as tiny as a marble. The darkness dissipated, the midsection of the stairs had been dissolved and the killer was gone, no trace left.

"Lloyd." A voice came from behind, dark and sad. Lloyd almost jumped, twisting around to see the speaker. Cloud stood there, floating, both arms had disappeared inside the coat. "Please realize that your powers are dangerous, most of them are the instant death type so be careful on who you use them on."

"I know."

The guardian made his blades recede their glow and placed them back into the sheath. His brown pools gazed up into the night sky, eyeing the moon. A glitter in each eye reflected from the light, giving him a mystic look. Cloud disappeared again, without a trace, leaving Lloyd alone in his thoughts.

A light sprinkle of rain flowed from the sky; it wasn't heavy like a storm yet. He stood there for what seemed like an hour (but really a few seconds), staring at the heavens before turning around to go down the stairs. His red boots clattered against the stone, clacking at each step. As he neared the bottom, the guardian spotted his father and Noishe. On the last couple steps, he jumped into the air, arms wide open and landed on the protozoan, rubbing his cheeks on the fur. "Good boy. When morning comes, I'll give you a big breakfast."

Noishe wagged his tail to express his gratitude while proceeding to saliva up his young master. Kratos was beside them, a smile creeping its way as he watched the two played. Lloyd soon rotated to him with a questioning stare. "Dad? When and _how_ did you get here? You don't have the Eternal Sword to get you back."

Red eyes met brown as they stared at each other. "There was an emergency teleporter in Derris Karlan that could only be used once. I didn't want to tell you about it because I knew you would pester me into using it and the reason I came down here in the first place was to check up on something. The computer had determined some kind of strange reaction happening on the planet so I came to investigate. One of them was located here but I didn't see anything that was abnormal. But I never expected _you_ to show up or even find me like this."

"You mean before you almost got killed?"

Kratos blinked, thrown off by the insulting question. "I guess but I never noticed him and who was he anyway and why was he after me?"

"It was an assassin, not sure for who the person is or what the person's agenda but you were quite lucky. I got there just in time to interrupt him or else you might have been killed."

"But that's strange, I really didn't notice the other presence…wait and how did _you_ know all this?" Kratos crossed his arms staring directly at his son.

"Um…" There was no way he could tell his father about his nightmare. He's never told anyone (except for Dirk), not even Genis or Colette so how was he going to explain this? Suddenly, he felt pushed back, not physically but mentally, his mind wide open. A voice spoke inside and he recognized it as Cloud's. Lloyd quickly repeated the words that were given to him, acting the same with a straight face so he wouldn't get detected. "I heard it about it from around the tavern, don't worry I wasn't drinking. There happened to be some suspicious people there talking about something and I listened in on their conversation. Apparently, it was just a rumor that something big was going to happen tonight. I thought it was just something stupid but I came out to see…and found you."

"I understand but I wonder how they knew about me coming? Something doesn't seem right." Kratos tilted his head downward, thinking about all the actions that had been taken up to now. Some of his messy hair fell into his face so he was forced to swat it away. When the strands came back into their previous spot, Kratos silently grumbled. "I wonder if they purposefully done something to trigger my arrival?"

"Maybe, but there's no point in thinking about it right now; we've got no evidence or clues for it. And there's nobody to go to." Lloyd leaned over, sitting on top of Noishe's back. "Should we go to bed? I can't think of anything else we can do."

Kratos almost smiled again, relaxing slightly due to the situation. "Well I have a room booked in the inn, so I guess you could stay with me for the time being." The older man turned, heading to the inn's direction. "I hope you don't mind that there's a chance that we'll have to share beds."

"I don't mind. But I'll have to be with you in a minute. I want to check on something really quick." The guardian ran off instantly in the opposite direction without even waiting for a reply from his father. He ran into the darkness and disappeared, the pitter-patter of his feet vanishing into the distance. Kratos had taken a step forward by instinct; a hand outstretched but couldn't do anything. The teen was already gone.

"Lloyd?" Kratos questioned, speaking to no one.

The Eternal swordsman ran to the other side of the town, the middle class area, and jumped up onto one of the roof tops. His feet landed perfectly without a slip up even though the roof was wet with rain that had poured down hours ago and began dashing around the neighborhood, eyes scanning out for something. Lloyd jumped building to building, scaling each one in the moonlight. His feet soared as he leaped, the white swallow tails fluttering in the wind pressure. As he jumped for the last time, he went up high into the middle view of moon, casting a shadow over the whole town. Something suddenly moved in the distance, something dark in an alleyway. It was small from his point of view but fast. His autumn pools watched it carefully, hidden away in the darkness even as he crawled down the side of the building close to the person, stopping halfway to blend into the shadows. The figure moved again, this time ducking underneath something large, most likely a garbage can. Lloyd neared it, keeping his foot steps as quiet as possible without notifying the suspicious man. He jumped down from the rest of the way without a sound, standing behind the person, not even breathing.

'Looks like I've found the other one.' Lloyd thought as he reached for his left sword. He had noticed another presence near the battlefield, the same type as the one he had fought but was too far away to do anything about it. The person seemed to be a ninja by the gracefulness of the movements but Lloyd paid no heed for it. 'Seems he's met his end. Too bad.'

With the swiftness of a cat attacking its prey, he pulled out his sword and sliced the man in two by the neck. The head rolled off and the body collapsed to the floor in a heavy 'flop'. Lloyd neared it, using the light to help tell him the ninja's identify. He even noticed the same garbs as the last one but nothing else came to mind and kicked the head away letting it roll out into the streets. A line of blood followed it, seeping into the stone ground, spreading out through the in-between lines.

The guardian sighed, and then backed away as he felt a powerful force over come him. He wanted to _laugh_ at the current state of the dead man. The blood pooled on the floor, glowing from the pale radiance of the moon and he held himself back from grinning at his victory. Then it started to rain, the droplets beating into the blood, sending ripples all around. It was coming down harder and heavier, but luck was on Lloyd's side as he was undercover. Pulling away, he ran, faster that he thought he could until the force disappeared and faded back underneath his chest. The pain disappeared and he felt better with the presence gone from his head. Glancing down, he noticed that his blade was still covered in the blood and took the liberty to wipe it off using a nearby bush.

'Everything is finished for now. I'll have to research about that group later on.' Lloyd dashed towards the inn, seeing that the lights were still on, he entered. The guardian felt the warmth hit his skin, glancing around the room to see if Kratos was somewhere in the room. The inn keeper wasn't at the desk but there were people at the tables, drinking to their bodies' delight without even caring about their limits. Some were rising up their drinks; others poured it into their mouths not stopping until it was completely empty. Lloyd shaked his head, he never really liked alcohol, the smell always got to him and he had the pleasure of some when Zelos had slipped a little bit into his drink. That night hadn't ended well when the next morning came around with a hangover and grudge. Kratos wasn't with the bunch of drunks which made Lloyd happy but also made his search complicated.

The guardian headed up the stairs, wondering which door was the right one until he spotted a single one opened a crack with the familiar green and white fur inside. Lloyd pushed it, a crack more; peeping first to make sure he was right before stepping in seeing Kratos by the window. Lloyd began to notice the heaviness of his clothes from the rain but ignored it, his eyes locked on his father.

"Dad, what's wrong?" He asked, seeing the worried expression.

The older man rolled to him. "No, its nothing. I'm just thinking about something."

Lloyd went over to the bed and sat down. "You know better than me that worrying will only weaken you and dull your skills. You should stop and get some rest, unless you won't wake up tomorrow."

"I guess you're right." Kratos didn't seem convinced, but did pull away from the window. He went over to a chair behind the bed, sat down and held his head up with his hand. "So where are the others? Shouldn't they be with you?"

Lloyd glanced to the seraphim while slipping to the other side of the bed. "How'd you know that they're with me?" He noticed that the purple cape was off, hanging on another chair. The sword and shield was at the bed side but wasn't too far off if there was some kind of emergency.

"I went to talk to Zelos but he wasn't there. The butler told me that he was traveling with you and the others."

"You went to see Zelos?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow, tilting his head.

"Yeah, I thought that maybe he might know where you are." Even Kratos seemed slightly ashamed of himself for going to the idiotic red headed ex-chosen. "I would have gone to Dirk but Zelos was closer and it wouldn't be a good idea to fly just to get over there. I don't need any trouble. Anyway, not to change the subject, where _are_ the others?"

"Oh…well, how to say this?" Lloyd scratched the side of the head. "I left them behind, I had to rush here to save you and Noishe was the only one who was able to carry me at that time. Plus I really didn't want the others to worry but I left them a note so they'll know where I went."

"Why didn't you take a rheaird? Wouldn't that had been faster?"

"To much noise, I didn't want to wake them." Lloyd stood up, heading over to Noishe, who was sleeping on the floor quietly. Lloyd's clothes were mostly dry by now and were getting to the point where he wouldn't have to take them off. He lay down, leaning across Noishe's side, arms folded behind him.

"I see, well then good night." Kratos noticed the sleepy brown eyes and blew out a few of the candles, keeping one lit beside him. He pulled out a book from nowhere and opened it, reading over the words. Lloyd smiled to himself, closing the eyes for a short rest but fell asleep instead.

He wasn't sure for how long he had slept but when he opened them back up, it was still dark. Lloyd looked over to Kratos who was still reading the book but the candle was half gone, melted away. Thick droplets of wax were flowing down the side, leaving a stained trail. The seraphim glanced up; feeling someone staring at him and his eyes met Lloyd's.

"Lloyd, you should go back to bed."

"What about you?" The guardian sat up a little, still sleepy. "Shouldn't you be heading to bed? It's…late." Lloyd hesitated unsure of what the time was and he added as an after thought. "I think."

Kratos glanced outside and sighed. It was getting late, _too_ late. He grabbed one of the pages and bended the corner as a bookmark. Closing it, he stood up, heading back to the bed and gazed over to his son for a moment. "You can sleep in the bed, you know."

"Nah, tonight is too warm for that and plus, Noishe is happy with me next to him." Lloyd scratched the ears after detecting the beast still awake. A purr came from the fur ball while Lloyd laughed, hugging the protozoan. "See?" He had lied about it being warm, it was cold and he was still a little wet.

The green and white tail waggled side to side, dusting the floor. He barked in an agreement, not even picking up his head. Lloyd lay back down, and smiled softly, closing his eyes once again, this time making _sure_ that he wouldn't fall asleep. Something almost slide across his lips as Kratos passed, pulling back the covers of the bed. The redhead got in, snuggling underneath, taking in the warmth of the blankets. His red eyes took one last gaze at his son before falling asleep, well, half asleep since he was keeping a watch on the surrounding area.

Lloyd bolted up, glancing out to the window. His eyes were already used to the dark and the moonlight that peered in, casting any shadows that once slept in the open into their place. The rain hadn't stopped instead it was getting worse. He was about to stand up when the shifting from the bed made him think otherwise.

A black shadow passed outside, Lloyd tensed for that moment but relaxed once he figured out that the person wasn't even _alive_; that left only one person, Cloud. The silhouette entered inside, going though the window and sat down on the edge. His coat was in scraps and when the ends moved to the ground, it didn't touch the wooden planks. Lloyd, however, noticed something odd about the man; he seemed as if he was _disappearing_ with the black ripples being torn off, fading off into the darkness. Lloyd would have called out to him but the former guardian withdrew before he could get a word out. The eternal swordsman's eyes slanted slightly, there was someone _else_ nearby. Perhaps it was one of those ninjas that was coming back to check on their missing companions. Yeah, that felt about right. Lloyd sat up; the assassin was close, probably just outside. He stood without making a sound and exited the room, his father still fast asleep. The guardian strolled down the hallway, then down the stairs, his feet creaking on the wooden planks at each step. The place was empty; everyone had either gone to bed or was so drunk that going up the stairs wasn't possible, meaning they were sleeping on the floor or table. He went out the back but as he passed, there were three items on the counter left forgotten and grinned. The guardian grabbed them, placed them into his pocket and left, a wild smile growing on his expression. He had some fun tools to use, and he was going to make the best of them.

The night was still glowing in the black sky, this time with the bugs cracking while the rain was beginning to stop as he exited the door. Lloyd jumped into a tree, hiding at first, seeing if he could locate the other ninja. He noticed a figure jumping into the air high above in the heavens. It was a woman this time, Lloyd could tell instantly by the thin figure and long hair. He silently followed along, the half ripped tail still somehow hanging on as if there was nothing left. The woman detected his presence and run around randomly, trying to lose the guardian, leading him everywhere. Lloyd kept up easily, still stuck in his excitement, his feet sliding across the rooftops. The cat and mouse game ended when she ran into the sewers, jumping top to top, running to a hiding spot so she could see her pursuer. The death guardian was faster then her and stood behind.

Lloyd grinned larger, seeing that his prey had finally stopped. Pulling out his right blade, he twisted it so that the flat end of the sword would hit her straight at the back of her neck. The woman collapsed, stunned, giving Lloyd the time he needed to prepare for his _entertainment_. He dragged her across the cold stone floor, up the stairs to the top floor of the sewers and dropped her like a piece of brick on the ground. Lloyd took out the rope he had stolen, tying her up on the wall by the wrists and waist, a foot up from the bottom. As the woman came around, he pulled out the other two, hiding them behind his back.

She glared at him hatefully. "What do you think you're doing?!" She struggled in the ropes, shifting her hands around. "Let go of me!"

Lloyd's eyes were red and seemed to be smiling, he had a _lively_ one. "Oh, nothing much, just going to have a little _entertainment_. Now before that why don't you tell me who you work for?"

The woman didn't answer. The sound of running water of the sewer along with the shuffling of the rats scatting across the dirty ground filled the area. He could see some of them peeping though the holes with glowing eyes. Lloyd lifted up the heaviest items, a hammer, observing the woman for any reactions. She let out a gasp and grounded her teeth together.

"Now, now, no need to be afraid, this might not hurt much if you cooperate." Lloyd took out the other weapon, a box of nails, numerous of them bunched up together with the pointed ends sharp and keen. He dropped the paper box after taking out a few of the nails, strolling over to the ninja who had fear crossing her face. "You could at least tell me your name, unless you want me calling you random and insulting ones until I get it right."

"Sarah." She grunted, trying to pull away from the dangerous teenager.

"Nice to meet you Sarah but I think this will be the last time we'll ever see each other ever again." The guardian lifted up a nail, placing it at the top of the index finger of her right hand, precisely behind the fingernail on the other side. It was hanging above the finger by an inch, the sharp end close enough to touch. He took the hammer, swinging it back for a powerful blow and then using the strength to lift it back; he slammed the flat heavy side into the nail.

It went through flesh, bone and the stone wall.

Sarah let out a gruesome scream throwing her head back, tears welling up in her eyes. The nail had indebted deep into the material, the only way to get it out now would be to tear the finger off. Lloyd reached for another one, bored already by the woman's reaction and that there wasn't enough blood to satisfy him. The next nail went in the middle finger, watching in good humor as the woman started to break down. A long trail of blood oozed down in thin lines, running along the cement that held the stones together. He didn't stop for a moment until he had finished pinning all ten fingers, each trapped to the wall. The bones cracked and snapped when the pin drove in, pushing everything apart. The guardian retracted back, admiring his devastating work and began to laugh like a mad scientist did to his finished projects. Sarah stopped squirming to stare, eyeing the boy dangerously but what could she do?

"Are you mental?!" She cried out, her throat raw and tired from all her screaming and crying. "Are you insane?!"

"Insane?" The guardian calmed down to a giggle, repeating the word multiple times in small whispers. "Insane, you say. Why no, I'm not. I just happen to love watching people suffer. Its so much fun, you should try it when you go to the _afterlife_."

Lloyd grabbed the next nail, plunging it into the palm and wrist of each arm with a harder swing. More blood spilled, this time the splitting of the bones was loud enough to over power the other sounds; it even scared some of the monsters away. The hammer in his hand was covered in blood at the flat end; some had even found its way to Lloyd's check. Other animals came nearer, smelling the scent of death close to the girl and waited patiently for their next meal especially the rats loving the fresh flesh of the wounded victim. Lloyd could sense the monsters' hunger and was even willing to give what they wanted _after_ he was done. He stripped the rope off, letting the woman hang on by the nails. The tearing of flesh filled the eternal swordsmen's ears and he _loved_ it. More pins went into her feet, one on each toe, the middle then the ankle. He started moving up onto the knees and elbows while Sarah had lost her voice to a mid whisper. Blood trailed off the wall, pooling at the bottom, spreading out like water, flowing down the slanted side into the sewer. It mixed with the dirty water, coloring everything it touched until it faded away, over dominated.

Sarah was half-dead already, prepared to take the death blow now to end her own misery. Her tears were no more, all gone and she looked like a mess.

"I'll give you a quick death right now, if you tell me why your friends were after Kratos Aurion." Lloyd offered, tossing the hammer up into the air, letting it twirl a few times before catching it easily.

"Go to hell bastard." She cried out using some of her last remaining strength. "He's an angel, an angel of Cruxis! All angels, every one of them should just die and leave us the hell alone!"

"I see so that's your reason." Lloyd picked up the second to last nail, rolling it around in his palm. "And what do you think about his son?"

"Son?" Sarah heaved, breathless after her cry. "What about him?"

"His name is Lloyd Irving, the one person that combined the worlds and fought Mithos to bring an end for the 'Age of Half Elves' plan. What do you think about him?" The eternal swordsmen glanced down at the hammer; it was dented at the top.

She calmed down, regaining her breathing pattern. "Him? I've read about him. He's a hero; there are even some people in the organization that admires him for his hard work and idealist nature."

Suddenly, Lloyd broke out in laughter, his shoulders shaking wildly. "You fool!" He lifted the two items and placed it at the chest. The nail was pointed directly at the heart, where Lloyd would hear it thumping with the blood flowing in and out. The woman screeched as it pierced her rib cage but stopped with blood dripping out of her mouth, her lungs filling up with the copper liquid. Lloyd's twisted grin grew larger, watching the woman suffer even more. His left hand held the last nail, the last one that would knock her breathing out. He stabbed it into the neck, right into the throat, and she chocked, gasping for breath for the last few seconds but before she could fully die, Lloyd lifted the hammer for one last time for the final strike. There was a sickening crack as her head exploded, bones and parts flying everywhere. The hammer removed from its retched spot, the entire thing cracked and drenched in blood. He had slammed the heavy item into the forehead as the finishing blow, crushing the skull and even smashed the brain inside. The clear juices dribbling out and the body went limp, no longer moving. He laughed, tossing the hammer into the water with a loud splash. The rats closed in, sensing that the strange teenager had finished his prey after the last blow on the head.

The ruby pools observed his work of bloody art with a crazy gleam. He licked his lips, watching the body go pale, losing blood as an alarming rate, drained out at the holes. All of it flowed into the sewer water below and disappeared overwhelmed by the dirty one. The red faded out, turning as if nothing had happened but the body was proof.

Lloyd shook his head at his own growing malevolence while strolling closer to Sarah, to the corpse for a better look. His left hand reached over the right, slipping his glove off and held it tightly. The bare one touched the still warm blood; his finger drenched in it and tugged it back. His tongue licked over it, testing the copper taste. He ate it coolly until it was gone, not like a savage as animals did when feasting. Lloyd 'humped' and turned away, dissatisfied. The blood didn't taste all that great, too filthy for him.

His fun was over, it was time for bed. He took one last look at the corpse before heading off, covering up his tracks so that the murder and the others wouldn't find their way to his doorstep. The rats attacked, chewing on the body, happy for the meal, surrounding the fresh carcass. Lloyd turned the corner, exiting outside and disappeared into the city after climbing up the latter.

But what he didn't know was that he was being watched intensely from the darkness.

The watcher down below in the sewers stood in front of Sarah, his black eyes examining her. Spiky white hair flowed from the top, covering up to above the eyes. He had an emotionless face and cold, dead pools of darkness. The watcher stepped forward, shooing the rats away for a moment, taking in the damage before twisting away. His black coat danced at the turn and began walking towards a dead-end. His body headed right to the wall and went through, vanishing from sight.

* * *

Lloyd's evil isn't he.

Sorry for the delay, I can't rush this or I'll mess it up so please be patient.

If people have read my other fanfics, they would probably know who this person is.


	4. Black Feathers

**Black Terror**

**Author: Metamorcy**

**Rating: M**

**Disclaimer**: Do I really need to keep repeating it? Can I just stop and say that everyone knows? Probably not. So no, I don't own Lloyd or anyone in ToS except for that watcher man cause I made him up. Sorry for the lateness of this one, I just have too many things on my mind and everything, I'm being overloaded with work, this sucks!!! (Screams to herself).

Plus I've been taken away from the computer for over a week so yeah that also delayed it. Hope you'll forgive me.

**6/04/09 this had been edited for spelling**

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* * *

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Chapter 4: Black Feathers

Lloyd sat up from the floor, the sunlight peeking through the cheap blinds and stained its bright light into his face. He shifted to the side so that the sun's rays wouldn't burn holes into his skin, trying to avoid the light at all cost. The bed beside him suddenly ruffled, the covers shifting from the movement underneath and he could spot the red hair poking out. Lloyd turned to take a glance at Noishe, who was snoring peacefully even when he was lying on the creature's back and scratched the top of the head a little bit. A yawn escaped his mouth, stretching out at first, covering his lips with his right hand. His brown eyes began to droop downward; his late night horror expedition had left him exhausted and sleepy. It held onto his mind and body tightly, pushing him to his limit of being able to stay awake. He glanced to the bed, finding his dad still fast asleep and his sword and shield near the bedside for protection. A smile crept onto his lips and as he laid back down, beginning to think of the others who he had left behind to save his father. He knew that they were worried about him seeing as he had disappeared sometime during the night without a sound and the only lead was the note he left behind but as Lloyd thought out the opinions of what might happen afterwards, he winced.

'It'll take them until tomorrow afternoon to get here. That means I still have time to prepare.' Lloyd lazily thought before surrendering himself over to sleep.

* * *

"Damnit, not again."

He recognized the place quite well; it was in the renegade's base, the desert one. Memories of the time he had been taken here was still fresh in his mind. He was in Yuan's office, the one he had gone into by accident when he really should have escaped through the front door. The only difference was that there was a body slumped over the metal desk, a head lying on it. Blue strands of hair was scattered out in every direction, the hair band that had held it together had been cut off, letting the long silky hair flow over the shoulder. It covered up the neck and parts of the shoulders and looked like the only thing that hadn't been affected by the growing pool below. It even masked the eyes but not all of the face and there was no expression except for the trail of blood that went down the chin. Lloyd stepped closer, reaching out to the hair, avoiding the blood underneath that surrounded the body. He couldn't feel his darker self coursing through so he was safe for now, but he knew that peace wouldn't last long. Still he was feeling some kind of comforting sensation, making him relax slightly and push away his control over his personality. The guardian pulled the hair back, hoping he wouldn't see anything that would horrify him and make him snap. He sighed in relief, the eyes were closed shut and there was no scar marking the pale face. His eyes traveled to the sword that had been thrust from behind, right into the spinal cord. The other end came out through the heart ensuring that this was a quick and simple death. Lloyd stroked the sword, running his gloved fingers over the sharp side then down to the wound. His fingertips went over around it in a circular motion seeing how much damage it had done. There were a couple of broken ribs that had been torn apart in the process of the stab, some torn in three different places. The lungs had been pierced into as well; both of them filled up with the ruby liquid from inside.

Lloyd glanced over to the desk, noticing that the paperwork had been drenched in blood. The letters had blended in with the liquid, the black ink melting into one large blot. He shifted through them until something interesting perked out on one of the articles; it was under the large pile and seemed to have the least amount of blood on it. The guardian began reading it, his eyes running over the material, outright ignoring the cold corpse next to him. It just so happen to be about those people, the ones that have been after Kratos, himself and now this person.

Lloyd read out loud, his eyeing looking over the lines consecutively. "Lord Yuan, an organization created by the leader named Cyran has attacked our main forces in the Tethe'alla base, demanding a meeting with you personally. These people are dressed up in black, most likely ninjas and have been going around killing anyone who has been related to Cruxis or is an angel. It seems they have a strong hate for them and their intelligence is quite high seeing as they were able to maneuver through the whole base without us noticing until we looked at the cameras. We were unable to find out the group's name and Lord Yuan, please be careful; they also want to take your life." The guardian sighed, tossing the paper back into the pile; the rest of it was covered with blood, unreadable. He watched it get absorbed into the still wet liquid that was stagnating on the table, blending in with the rest. "Seems like this one came a little _too_ late."

He took a glimpse at Yuan, who was still bleeding out of his heart; the skin color was white and granny now from the blood loss. A feeling of pity washed over Lloyd as he stared; taking the liberty to make Yuan's death, even though he wasn't fond of the man, look more peaceful. He started yanking out the sword first, sounds of the bones bending, and cracking filled in the room. Lloyd grunted hauling it harder until the remaining bones broke under the pressure. The sword was large, sharp to the point where a mere touch would make a slit on the flesh, and was dripping of Yuan's blood though anything else of it didn't seem very special, a plain one, a normal blade a soldier would use in battle. The only thing that identified it was the handle, which had a symbol on the bottom that looked like a bird. It didn't seem important to him so Lloyd tossed it aside without a second thought nor did the clattering of it made him flinch.

Lloyd muttered to himself angrily, he had just realized something. "There's no way for me to tell the time of death."

He was right, there was no clock in the room and since he was inside, he couldn't see the sky. Lloyd took off a glove so his bare fingers would be revealed and reached down to touch Yuan's hand. It was cold, meaning he's been dead long enough for the insides to grow cold. He then went to the blood; it was icy just like the corpse. The blood surrounded his finger dying it red like his clothes. Inside the guardian's head, he was trying to calculate the estimate time for the death, the eyes turned to a light shade of reddish-brown.

"An hour and thirty minutes." Lloyd spat out, the pools turning back to brown. "So about two hours." He had added more time to it so he could get there early. But that was when he noticed something in Yuan's pocket, slightly hanging out by an inch, it was silvery and shiny. Lloyd reached out unhooking the item; it was a small handheld clock, with the timer was still working perfectly fine. "1:30." Lloyd recalculated the time again with the rest which meant he had to arrive around 11:30 in the morning. Oh joy that meant he had to wake up early but he knew that wasn't going to happen _that_ easily. He could just sleep over the whole thing and forget about poor Yuan, but Lloyd decided to go against that.

The blood that continuously poured had already traveled round the desk and it was now heading towards his feet. Lloyd leaned over, tapping the liquid, sending a ripple, first small and as it went traveled throughout, it got bigger to the point where the wave covered the whole field. It then stopped all together and it went still.

"You owe me, Yuan."

* * *

Lloyd sat up; this time the sun had made a direct hit into the eyes. He reached up, blocking it while closing them, the bright light burning. Squinting, he glanced around seeing if anything had changed during the time he had last woken up. Nothing had except when he went to the bed, it was empty, the sword gone and so was Kratos. Noishe was beginning to stand up, stretching his back by leaning down with his mouth wide open. He laughed contentedly, positioning himself to do the same thing, covering his mouth from the upcoming yawn. The morning was bright and nosy with the sun already up high in the sky, shining its radiance upon the world. Lloyd cursed; he liked it better when it was dark because there he could _play_ without any trouble. He peeked at the clock on the table beeping with bright red letters. "10:58."

"Less than an hours to get there, oh joy." This one was going to be rushed but there was no helping it. Luckily, he already had his clothes on since he had slept on the ground so there was no need to go on a scavenger hunt for something to wear. His hands brushed against his clothes, wiping off the dust that had gathered on them overnight. Noishe trotted to the door, waiting patiently for his master to exit the room, his tail wagging. Lloyd scratched the back of his head, twisting the doorknob and headed out, holding it open for the beast. The walk downstairs was somewhat peaceful, except for the groans of the drunks from last night, complaining about their hangover. 'Serves them right.' Lloyd sneered as one of the voices managed to make him jump when it screamed through the wooden frame just as he was walking pass. He stomped on the last step, spotting Kratos who was sitting at one of the empty tables, taking a sip of something, coffee by the looks of it. When the seraphim noticed the stare, he turned, waving his son over with his left hand. Lloyd plunged through the chairs and people; the smell of alcohol was still there as strong as last night's. He winkled his nose in disgust, he really despised alcohol and never wanted to taste it ever again, it was just too bitter for his taste. As he neared the area, he noticed someone heading towards him with a little item that was dangling out of the pocket. It was moving back and forth at each step and as he passed by, he bumped into that person, quickly seizing the moment to take the watch that was hanging out. No one noticed the transmission not even Kratos and hid it away in his jacket.

"Looks like you're finally up." Kratos tilted his head, letting a few of the bangs fall sideways.

"Hey, I just don't wake up as early as you." Lloyd took a seat, thinking of a way to abandon his father and Noishe without giving them any suspicious thoughts. He didn't need any of that pestering him especially Kratos who wouldn't let it go until he got a straight answer.

"Have you heard?" A voice from another table, a man, old and husky whispered.

"Heard what?" Another came in, leaning forward. Some of the others that were surrounding the table, listened in on the conversation, their interest perked.

"A man was found dead in the middleclass district; his head chopped clean off, and was then left in the middle of the street. Another body was found in an alleyway, rotting and with maggots eating it already." Lloyd remained still, inclining in, trying to hear the two, Kratos doing the same.

"Scary." The younger one whispered back. "Is it some kind of murder?"

"Of course it is, stupid." The man had an insulting tone in his voice. "And did you see the stairs? The ones that goes up to the castle? It was totally destroyed, almost obliterated."

Lloyd flinched at that one; the stairs was his fault and didn't bother hiding that. Kratos glanced at his son with an all-knowing look, after all that was where Lloyd had fought off the assassin last night. The two men became silent, going back to their beers or whatever the hell they were drinking but it seemed like alcohol to the guardian.

Lloyd took that chance to ask to be excused. "Hey Da-Kratos, I'm going out, could you watch over Noishe for me?" He was still having a hard time calling the seraphim in front of him 'Dad' after all this time. There were moments when he was able to but then there were others, like now, when he couldn't.

Kratos tossed an apprehensive glance, thinking that Lloyd wanted to investigate the murder the men were talking about. "Do you need me to come along?"

"Nah, I can do this alone, I'll be back soon so there's no need to worry about me. I can hold my own in a fight remember." Lloyd stood up and headed over to Noishe, who had lain down near the two. Rubbing his head tenderly and taking a glimpse back at his dad, he sent out a request. "Sorry Noishe I'll have to feed you that promise later but for now ask Kratos to do it. Bye."

"Come back soon." Kratos called out, and then took another sip of his drink.

"Will do." The guardian wandered to the front door, about to step out when the inn keeper suddenly said something to the person next to him.

"Are you sure you don't know where my hammer, nails and rope went?" The inn keeper asked, scratching his head in confusion. "I'm sure I placed it on the back table last night."

"Really? And it's gone?"

"It's as if it up and disappeared. How strange."

The door closed at that moment, Lloyd stepping outside where the sun was high in the air staring down on him, warming up his skin. People flooded the streets; many of them were talking about the murder and the broken stairs. Stores were open, yelling out prices and what they sold, it was really boisterous. He exited through the gate, leaving the city without anyone noticing, not even the guards that stood in front, and strolled down the trails until he came up to a deserted area. When he knew that there was no one nearby, he ran into the bushes and checked around for any life again, seeing if there was anyone hiding. He made one last reassurance before evoking his powers, after all, there was no way he would be able to get to the desert that was halfway across the world in a hour. Lloyd summoned a small bag that he used for emergencies which held all his important stuff, even his tools for carving.

He reached inside, searching for something he needed. As his hands pulled out, long white bandages slipped, looking brand new and clean. Lloyd took them apart individually, wrapping them around his left side of the face then started to move around to almost everything. They covered up his left eye and skin, the only thing that was visible was the right eye and the flesh that surrounded it along with the lips poking through. Closing his eyes, he awakened the abilities, the ones he rarely used unless it was a crisis, letting it go through his entire body. He could feel his inside and outsides rotting and decaying within seconds with poisonous blood running through his veins. There was no smell admitting from him and it was the flesh except for the skin that was seeable that decayed. His eyes were a _dark_ red like the blood that circulated in his veins.

There was always a side effect for using his full powers though; it would harm his body by mutating it. His blood would become dangerous for the next few days; anyone that touched it would result in their flesh being burned; like it was acid. The more powers he released, the worst it got but it granted him more than enough to destroy an entire galaxy with a single swoosh of his hand. But of course, this is Lloyd; he wouldn't do anything like that…_unless someone pissed him off._

The guardian stood up rushing off, speeding into the distance. The swallowtails flapped like wings of a bird behind and vanished somewhere into the woods.

A rustle came from one of the trees, someone jumping down from the top, leaves drifting off, and floating side to side until it reached the earth. His white hair was slightly flattened out but the wind picked it up, tossing it around, fluffing it back. The black coat tail fluttered with the current, sharp black eyes staring at Lloyd's direction. His feet landed without a sound, expression blank and emotionless as if he couldn't remember how to express them. The man turned away, eyes closed and vanished, fading away into the wind. The trees rustled like they were saying goodbye to the mysterious stranger then stopped, remaining still and quiet.

* * *

"Looks like I got here ahead of time." Lloyd gazed over the room; no one was in office leaving him some time to rest. He sat comfortably in the spinning chair, twirling around like a child then stopped, putting his feet on the desk. "There's nothing to do. No one is really here."

Most of the renegades had either gone home, helping out the other half-elves or protecting the Yggdrasill tree from any greedy people. The base was quiet and even the security machines that wandered the place had laid low.

Lloyd retracted his feet off and stood up, heading over to a bookcase that was directly behind with numerous stuff stacked on it, some that weren't even books were there. He had already eyed the place for any cameras but there was none. 'He really needs to get security in this room. It's no fun just to walk right in.'

Actually, Lloyd wasn't lying, he had almost strolled in without any trouble at all and that surprised him. Yuan, their almighty leader, who was going to get killed soon, wasn't even being protected by his own men. The guardian jumped up onto the steel bars that crisscross each other up above and crawled into the darkest corner, hiding him self. Just as he did that, the door slid open and in walked the blue-haired half-elf. He looked the same as last time and every other time, nothing has changed one bit.

Yuan suddenly glanced around the room as if he had entered some kind of strange presence and felt a shiver run up his spine as he wandered over to his desk, there was something different about it but he ignored it. The room was cold, an imaginary voice seemed to be breathing from somewhere nearby but there was no one around. The place was empty, there was no where to hide with the office being lighted. The half-elf gazed around once more before sitting down, still cautious since the breathing was drawing closer. There was someone in there, near too as if he was breathing down his neck. Every time Yuan looked, there was nothing to prove that, so where? The doors slid open again, this time a soldier came walking in, carrying a large stack of paperwork.

"Lord Yuan, I have the reports." The soldier said, dropping the load on the desk. He saluted with his right hand and continued as Yuan glanced over the pile. "There seems to be some new occurrences happening all over the world. The report for that should be issued in there."

"Really? And what would that be?"

"Not sure, my lord but the man explained about it in his report."

"Thank you, you may leave now." Yuan gave a nod and stared at the papers with disgust even after the renegade had left quickly. The soldier had sensed the uneasiness from his lord and definitely didn't want to get caught in the middle. The seraphim reached down, pulled out a pen from a drawer, grabbed the first sheet and got to work. Lloyd almost snickered at the man's words that slipped out of the mouth, curses aimed directly at the reports. "Damn paperwork."

Lloyd couldn't help but smile, now giggling quietly at the half-elf. He eyed the time on his own watch he had stolen when he passed through the tavern, two minutes to react but since he already sensed the other being inside the area, perhaps it was less now. The assassin had been there ever since Yuan had entered the room, waiting behind like a shadow. Still keeping quiet, he jumped down with a sword drawn out; the hilt pointed downward and slammed it into the back of Yuan's head, hard. Lloyd rushed forward, catching the falling and unconscious half-elf and pulled him back onto a wall, far away from the danger zone. Of course, there was still a heavy displeasure between the two so to show Lloyd's detestation, he dropped the man on the floor with a painful 'thump' for revenge.

"Sorry Yuan, that was for what you said long ago. Plus, I can't let you see me cuz knowing you, you would tell Dad and everyone else instantly." Lloyd stood back up, eyeing a small space out of the corner of his eyes. The bandages, even though thick, he could still see through it. At a split second, his hands shot up and grabbed something that had been shot out of that same spot. A sharp dagger had been thrown, cutting into the palm of his hand with the edges sticking out behind. The dagger had gone through his flesh, through the palm without Lloyd letting out a scream. The glove was torn and blood tickled down his arm but that didn't seem to bother him one bit. It looked as if he didn't feel a thing. He reached up, yanked it out and tossed it aside without a care. The wound healed itself quickly and a grin appeared on his face. "Nice try, but I'm actually faster than that."

The man came out of his hiding spot. He was dressed the same way as the others. This one had golden-colored hair and eyes that looked like large glittering emeralds. There was a surprised expression but that was quickly changed to a large smirk. "You're not too bad yourself. I'm actually some what impressed except for the fact that you got yourself cut while stopping my attack."

Lloyd kept quiet, taking a hint that the man wasn't done talking yet but he was already growing bored with the conversation.

"You're the first person that has been able to catch on of my daggers before. Most don't and get killed, you should be proud of yourself."

"Well if that's all you've got then you'll be _very_ surprised by what _I_ can do."

"Really and why's that?" The assassin tilted his head, reaching for another dagger.

"Because you're messing with the wrong person."

"Is that so?" The man huffed not buying the guardian's warning. "Well, let's just introduce ourselves first; it's a custom for me so I hope you'll answer honestly. I'm Nike from the organization 'The Black Heavens'. You know what, to be truthful, we go that name from one of the 'Bleeding Black Angel's' attack. The guy is really powerful; you know the one with large black wings covered in blood. It's pretty nice, don't you think?"

"From the 'Bleeding Black Angel'?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow. How ironic. He didn't think he would have to hear that name ever again, not here at least. His eyes were glowing even more and rushed forward before the guy even noticed the sudden disappearance. He didn't wait for Nike to react, bringing his blade upward for a stab and pierced the skin at the waist. Nike let out a shriek, gazing down at the blade that was digging into his side. His hands reached over to it, fingers rimming across the sharp end of the sword and he coughed, holding back on throwing up blood on himself. The guardian pushed it deeper, spraying more of the red liquid on the wall, twisted it, tearing apart the flesh. But suddenly Lloyd pulled back, jumping a foot away, glancing at Nike with an emotionless expression.

Nike groaned at the pain that coursed through his entire body. "W-What's wrong with you? You could have killed me with your first attack. Or are you too _soft_ to kill?"

He chocked up more blood and held his wound beneath his two hands. The thick liquid seeped out from in-between the fingers, unable to stop the flow. The assassin reached for a cloth from behind and tied it around his cut like a belt, preventing it from getting in his way.

Lloyd pointed the sword at the neck and spoke. "The only reason I haven't killed you yet is so that I can see you suffer. You won't be getting out of here alive not even with that backup you have somewhere in this building." The guardian picked his head up; a victory smile was imprinted on his lips. "Oh and as for your custom, I'm Lloyd, Lloyd Irving."

"Brave words, young boy, too brave," Nike held the knife in his hands, struggling to stand back up. He managed to toss that one at Lloyd's head and smirked, seeing that the boy wasn't going to move. The guardian sighed, deflecting the weapon by flipping his hand, sending the dagger flying towards the wall right beside Nike's head, it was off by an inch from touching the hair.

"Didn't I tell you? You can't compete with me." Lloyd vanished, his body wandering, circling around the half dead man. The blood wouldn't stop, he had scratched up against a main artery, one of the few place that would surely be fatal if not treated quickly. Lloyd pulled his sword up to his face with a wicked smile, watching Nike cry out, searching around for the missing guardian.

"Where'd you go?! Show yourself!" He yelled, the limbs gradually getting heavy. His eyesight was darkening and fading to black. He was going to die soon whether it was by blood loss or if Lloyd was going to finish the job and just end his life.

"Oh, you're not gong to die just yet. I haven't allowed you that privilege yet." The guardian twirled, kicking Nike down to the floor, and then stomped onto the right hand; a gruesome scream came from the killer. Lloyd tilted his head, swinging his twin blades around in the hands. He called out another attack, this time it was magic. "Blood Feast."

Another scream filled the air but it wasn't Lloyd's or Nike's, it came from the misty darkness that grew under their feet. A circle appeared beneath the assassin, colored in black with a red glow with words in some kind of ancient language written inside. Black misty vines shot out, entangling itself around the arms, holding the killer down then spread out. It ate onto his skin, heading inside the body as if it was some kind of parasite, destroying everything along the way. Lloyd jumped back, putting his twin swords away, watching with mid-interest as the man was torn apart from the inside, blood seeping through the cracks of skin and spilled out onto the floor. The spell vanished; the circle and vines going along with it, letting the killer go and dropped him to the floor. The eternal swordsmen grinned, letting the man live a little longer, who was struggling to stand up, shaking and wobbling side to side. Nike held onto the wall for support, breathing hitched and disordered as the red copper fluid continued to drain out of the veins.

The mutated skin on Lloyd's face, which was hidden underneath the bandages, throbbed for a second. He twitched at it, taking a step forward with his right blade drawn out. "It seems you're not as strong as I hoped you'd be with all that bragging. You see, I've been _bored_ lately. All the enemies are long gone and dead and now no one's been able to withstand me. I have the ability to kill every single person on this pathetic planet in less than a minute but really where is the fun in doing that." Lloyd smiled innocently, contradicting on what he was talking about. "I hope your so called organization is powerful cause I want to kill every single one of them." He grinned manically, placing the sharp sword near the neck. A thin line broke, tiny droplets slipped out, getting onto his sword. Lloyd pulled it back for a second, taking a quick lick of the blood, tasting it at first to see if it was delicious. He grunted, it tasted horrible, just like the last one, dirty and disgusting. Spitting it out, he glared at the killer, loosing interest in the pointless fight as he pointed the sword back at the neck. "Any last words?"

"…You're different then what they say in the reports about you, Lloyd Irving." There was fear shaking in the voice, the man was trembling feeling death looming over him. Lloyd sighed, he heard already heard this from someone else. "They say that you're a kind hearted person, not very smart in academically but powerful, a force to be reckoned with in battle. They say that you're an idealist with a strong sense of justice and love and care about his dear friends and family deeply." Nike paused staring up directly at the ruby eyes. "What happened to _that_ Lloyd?"

The eternal swordsmen's grin grew even larger. "You're not wrong about that Lloyd; he is indeed me, one and the same. I am kind hearted, caring and all that crap when I was in the past but let me tell you something. I only show that personally in front of my dear friends. You should know that I have many names that I'm known by all over the universe, one of them is 'The Guardian of Death', the other is 'The Sentencer' and there's one more but I'll tell you that one later." Lloyd had blood lust glittering in his eyes as he pierced into the man's soft flesh at the shoulder blade. He went through the bone, tearing it in half letting the killer groan in pain and tremble. He suddenly stopped, glancing over to the door, there were voices from the other side coming closer. An irated expression replaced the once manic one and pulled back. "Well I'll be damned, they just had to ruin my fun, oh well, better end this quick."

Nike crawled away, his back going flat against the metal wall. "So you're going to kill me before anyone can stumble in here, huh."

"Of course, I don't need any trouble, oh and before I forget, I'll tell you secret before you die. Do you know who the 'Bleed Black Angel' is?"

Nike twisted his head upward to stare at Lloyd with a surprised expression. "Who?"

"_Me_."

Before Nike had a chance to reply, Lloyd swung his sword into the air and called out his final attack. "The Dark Heavens!" The room was engulfed in black, feathers of the same color danced around in an invisible whirlwind while something dripped off as it flew along. It was a liquid, dark and thick, something that stick to it with an acidic touch. Two large black wings appeared in the obscurity, fluttering and spraying more feathers at each flap. More whirlwinds were created tossing the room into a mess and sending shock waves, slicing apart everything it touch, even the metal wall. A scream, piercing and loud, echoed though until it was chocked away into the darkness.

* * *

The other assassin flinched; he knew that his ally was dead. His green hair fell over the face, covering it along with the yellow colored eyes that were bright and piercing. The killer was near the room where the rheairds were located, the doors all closed with the renegades running all around, searching for the intruder. He closed his eyes, as if he was praying and sending his sympathies to the grave. A sound of something fluttering reached his ears and his eyes shot open searching out the noise. Feathers of darkness spin around his head but it never touched the ground, dissipating before that could ever happen. One tapped against his shoulder, blood sprouted out from it drenching the cloth instantly. The killer flinched again eyes widening slightly, the shoulder now engulfed in pain as if something was burning the skin. More came, it seemed endless and the assassin gazed up at the source. All he saw the grinning face of Lloyd and the sword that went through his throat.

* * *

"Lord Yuan! Lord Yuan, wake up!" A renegade soldier yelled out shaking his poor unconscious leader awake. The blue haired seraphim twitched, stirring between the two states for awhile, groggily opening his clouded over eyes. The world around him was spinning in circles and the light above was so agonizing that everything just became a blur. The soldier held the blue-haired half-elf in his arms, noticing the off-sighted gaze that traveled around the room. Yuan stood up, using the man next to him as a ledge and found his way to the chair he liked to sit on. The soldier ran out of the room looking for help or going out to get a doctor that could take a look at the forming bruise on the head.

Yuan blinked the extra water that had acuminated in his eyes away and reached up to the spot where Lloyd had struck him but he didn't know that. He hissed in agony upset about being attacked by surprise and the pain that seeped into his skull was agonizing. Yuan twitched; he had pushed too hard on that spot of the large bumpy mark. There was even a dull pain from his back as if he had been dropped to the floor like a ragged doll. "Ow..."

He tried to stand back up, wobbling every now and then, his head still jumbled up by the attack. Yuan was pretty sure that he had gotten a concussion from the hard hit and he couldn't even remember what had happened just that he knew that he had been watched. Once he was able to remain standing without falling, he stepped forward, examining his destroyed room. "Damnit, they even broke the door." Everything had been sliced, a clear clean cut, something that could only be made by something sharp. He grumbled in frustration and out of the corner of his eye, he caught something black. Falling to his knee, already reaching his limit, and since no one was around; he crawled over to the strange item and picked it up.

It was a feather.

"A black one, too." Yuan twisted it in his fingers, twirling it in circles. It was pretty big, superior compared to his hand and was almost as long as the fingertips to the elbow. Something got onto his fingers, something sticky and dropped the large feather instantly, watching it drift side to side until it reached the cold marble floor. The half-elf stared in shock at his hand which was now plastered in blood with the rotten stench burning up his nose. The blood scorched against his skin, sizzling like hot water. Yuan tried to sake it off and finally used his precious cape to wipe it. It smeared on the cloth, the skin on his fingers were red but luckily not bleeding or blistered. He stood, tears welling up at the horrid smell after the fizzing moment and taking large gasps of breath. It was like rotten corpses, numerous of them that had been out in the sun for _days_, layers among layers of them to make it _this_ bad. It was like hundreds of years had passed and the flesh was still decomposing, locked in an enclosed place. Yuan felt like gagging at it, it was so wretched that it felt like each breath was decaying his lungs, the air stung horribly. The blood spread out on the metal floor, some other pools of blood was there, the same on the feather and someone else.

Yuan coughed, backing away from the feather, gasping for fresh clean air behind. After a few gulps full, he stared down at the monstrosity with disgust. There was no way in hell he was going near it again and he glared, muttering a quick lighting spell, wanting to get rid of it.

"Thunder Blade!"

The attack, a large sword came down and a spell circle surrounded the targeted spot then exploded with electricity. Once the magic attack was finished, Yuan stared gawking at the remains. "Damnit, why won't it disappear?!" The attack had done nothing to it, blood pooled out from it as if cursed.

Suddenly the feather combusted into flames, burning the tiny particles and blood like it was oil then disappeared, leaving no trace of the marks. Everything was gone; nothing remained there, not even the char of the fire. The blood except for someone else's combusted too, vanishing.

"What the hell?"

* * *

Lloyd glanced back at the base for a moment; he had felt something nearby, a person or was it a monster? Lloyd couldn't tell, he couldn't even locate it either. The aura that surrounded the person was entirely different than any of the others on this planet. The guardian took a step forward wanting to examine the aura when the feeling suddenly disappeared. It vanished being no longer able to sense it any longer; Lloyd tilted his head, slightly confused before turning away about to head back to Kratos.

The feeling returned for a moment and seemed to be cautious about Lloyd sensing him. There _was_ something there, Lloyd knew that, and out in the open too and so close but the land was barren, there was no place to hide so where could the being be. Lloyd jumped up onto a cliff, high above the desert ground, still searching but nothing was found. Even his own powers weren't able to help. He grinded his teeth, he couldn't be seen here, that could cause some trouble. Lloyd turned, something caught his eyes, a blade made of wind, thin and wedged heading towards his spot. He jumped back, the blade slicing through the rocks without a sound in a sharp slash. The cliff had been sliced in half, sliding off with a rumble that almost resembled an earthquake as Lloyd jumped to the closest one nearby.

Okay, there was defiantly someone there, hiding from the sands without even revealing his position. Another one, this time from behind, almost got Lloyd at the leg. It was shallow but horizontal and was able to split through one of his tail ends, the one that hadn't gotten injured yet. His body soared into the sky, did a flip and was holding him self up in the air longer to get a better outlook of the area. He grumbled to him self but that didn't last long as something slammed into his back in midair. The guardian tumbled to the ground, rolling across the sand until he slowed down and stopped. He stood up, splitting out some sand that had gotten into his mouth.

'Lloyd, run! You can't fight this one!' Cloud screamed from Lloyd's mind inside, there was fear in it.

The guardian agreed to that, he knew when he was out matched in power. He ran without even glancing back to see if this so called person was following. His feet got faster, traveling through the Ossa Trail with such speed that the monsters didn't even feel or notice his presence as he passed by. He reached Meltokio within minutes, though he had to take a short cut by running over water but no one noticed the blur. His steps slowed to a walk as he ran up close to the guards at the gate. The presence and aura was gone, but it also wasn't in the desert anymore.

'Just who was that?' Lloyd asked, he had absolutely no clue about what had just happened.

'I'm not sure but that strength is far beyond your own capabilities. I'm afraid to say this, but whoever that was, he had the power that far comprehends the gods.' Cloud whispered, slightly terrified of this new player. 'I'll assure you that this person is not connected with 'The Dark Heavens' but this is more troublesome. I'm afraid that you can't confront this person yet, I have a feeling that I might know this person but I can't say until I'm sure.'

'Alright.' Lloyd jumped into the bushes before the guards could see him, pulling off the bandages so that they wouldn't question his new look. Everything went back to normal and he strolled out, brushing his hair with his fingers. The bandages were placed back into their previous place and then disappeared until further use later on. 'Okay time to meet Dad.'

* * *

"Hi Kratos!"

Kratos almost jumped at the sound of his son's voice. Since when did Lloyd get so sneaky and come in without making a sound. The red head seraphim turned with a small smile returning the boy's gesture. "Welcome back, Lloyd. It's past lunch time but are you hungry?"

"Of course I am, I'm famished. I hadn't eaten anything all day, not even breakfast." Lloyd sat down on an empty chair, the tavern wasn't full with just a couple of people hanging around. There were some early drinkers and some couples sitting farther away from everyone else having some moments. It seems Kratos was sitting in the same seat and table in the morning, had he been waiting here all day?

Noishe's ears perked up at his master's voice and rushed over to his side, tail wagging left and right. Lloyd gazed over to the large green and white beast with his hand on the waist like Kratos always did.

"Hey, Noishe, you hungry too?"

He was answered with a cheery bark.

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's go get something to eat." Lloyd ran to the cook, opening the door to the kitchen with Noishe right behind. He disappeared behind the swinging doors while Kratos sighed, shaking his head at the childish of his son and hoped that the two wouldn't get in trouble. Lloyd ordered the food quickly since he was pissing off the cook for bringing an animal inside. They exited together, Lloyd holding the door wide-open for Noishe with a smile on his face. Kratos was still there at the table, reading whatever book was in his hands. Lloyd made a snort but when a shadow crossed on the floor, he stopped. It was long with the setting sun outside the door, beaming at it directly. He followed it to the window, a person stood there right in front of the light so Lloyd was unable to see the face or even how this person looked like. The man was looking directly at the guardian with a calculating glare and Lloyd felt his body tense up. He just stood there, hands in the pockets and the coat tails fluttering when the wind blew. But it was strange, there _was_ someone there, then the next minute, the moment Lloyd blinked, the shadow and the man was gone.

"Lloyd, is something wrong?" Kratos called out, questioning his son's bizarre movement.

"No nothing, I just thought I saw something." Lloyd turned back heading to the seat. "Sorry for worrying you Dad, I mean Kratos."

"It's alright, I don't mind."

Lloyd glanced back at the window, hoping that the shadow wasn't there again. It wasn't but the image had burned itself into his mind, he would have to check it out later. Perhaps during the night when there were less people around and though the security had thickened, it wasn't enough to make Lloyd worry. 'Looks like I'll have to find that person and question him.'

* * *

The street lights were on, pushing the darkness of the night away. Lloyd sat in a bench, somewhere in the middle-class area reading something in his hands. It was a piece of paper, the same one that had been on Yuan's desk during the nightmare. Yes, he had stolen it from the half-elf; snatched it during the confrontation. He wanted to find these people on his own and that meant he wanted no outside interference in his little game. Of course in this game, there was no such thing as rules so whatever went goes. Lloyd folded the paper up, placing it into his pocket, safely packed away. The guardian stood up, cracking his knuckles for a moment before feeling something coming at him. He felt it determining whether or not it was the strange being or the organization. A groaned escaped, it was an assassin, for some odd reason, he had actually hoped it to be the man. He had grown an interest on him and wanted to find out the identity of this mysterious person. Lloyd was about to pull out his sword to counterattack this slow-paced snail when the killer suddenly increased its speed _tenfold_.

His eyes widened, he wouldn't be able to make it in time, not even to jump away. It was far too fast for him to react right now and could only stand still, waiting for the up coming sting. The blade connected with Lloyd's chest, the stomach, a vital point where death followed right behind. A gruesome pain coursed through his body, coughing up blood on the killer and fell back onto his knees. One of his main arteries had been severed, a point where people used to attack when going for a quick finish. He stared at the person above; it was a woman this time, the only thing different about her to the others was that she had a scarf wrapped around her mouth. Lloyd glared hatefully at the person, caught off guard at the last moment and felt the blood flowing out of his veins and out into the cold atmosphere. His anger boiled, his fists scrunched up tightly together until his fingers turned white. He wanted to kill, his eyebrows were slanted downward and his teeth grinded against each other.

"Sorry Lloyd Irving, we have no choice but to kill you to get to Kratos." She stated, pulling down the mask. "Hope you have no hard feelings for me."

The guardian coughed up more blood, clenching his fists tighter in anger. He was _pissed_, reaching out to grab the woman's arm, he sneered furiously. There was no way he was going to let her get away with this alive. Plus, he sensed that there was someone else coming to help this woman. The blade was still there in his stomach, not allowing his body to heal instantly and his strength was fading. It stuck out like a sore thumb and it hurt like hell. The woman let out a yelp, almost falling at the tightened grip.

"Hey, let go." She screeched, reaching down to tear Lloyd's hand off. "Hey, Jack, help me out here."

Another one appeared from the darkness of an alleyway strolling over to their spot. He had black hair and eyes like a cat that seemed to have a snickering grin in them. "Why? Seems like you have it under perfect control to me, plus it's your fault for letting him grab you."

"Just get him off." She shaked her arm but the grip tensed. Lloyd didn't have any plans on letting go anything soon, his finger piercing into the skin and making red marks. His hatred fueled his strength and tried to make the process as painful as possible.

Jack pulled out a sword from behind, nearing it towards Lloyd neck; he was planning on cutting the boy's head off. Lloyd glanced over but didn't cower, his eyebrows going farther down. "Fine just hold him still while I kill him off."

"Fine."

Lloyd twitched, the cold steel touching his neck. He couldn't move, the dagger had dug in deep enough to kill an average person but Lloyd wasn't normal, now was he. The sword went far way for a second before swinging down, it was at that moment that Lloyd reacted, reaching up to catch it in mid-swing. The sharp end cut into the glove, into the flesh and stopped at the bone which held it still. Lloyd didn't flinch; the pain wasn't as bad as the one he was already experiencing. Jack grunted, trying to retract it back but couldn't.

"What the hell? Let go." Jack pulled harder, tearing some of the flesh sideways like he was peeling an apple.

Lloyd grinned; they were caught in his trap. "Death Sentence." The two stopped moving, bodies frozen. He let go of both of them, sitting up on the floor to watch the little entertainment that was about to happen. Jack was first to move, taking his sword back and pointed it up at his own neck. His hands gripped the hilt of it and pushed forward towards him self. The sword went through, ripping out the spinal cord and throat, spraying out blood from the back. A line of red dripped from the mouth, the light in the eyes fading. The body feel fell back, limp and dead, a pool of blood forming around the neck.

The woman was next, taking out one of the hidden knives from behind her back and pushed it into the lower portion of the chest, without even letting out a scream. She twisted it around in a circle, pushing it deeper into the stomach. The woman then pulled it out, still alive, then back into a different spot squirting out more fluid. The blood flowed down the clothes, down the legs until it reached the floor. Even the blood he had coughed on her began eating her skin; sizzling her flesh until it turned to bones and ashes. Lloyd tried to stand up but the blood lost made it hard, his vision doubling over. He struggled to get up while yanking out the knife when he managed to catch his breath. The cold atmosphere helped calm down, there was no sound, the animals were silent tonight.

"I guess you're the one that's been killing off our people."

'Another one?!' Lloyd twisted around; his wound was just starting to heal up but he wasn't able to do anything since most of his energy had been used. A man stood behind, arms folded with eyebrows tilted downward.

"I would have never imagined it to be you of all people, Lloyd." The killer huffed, walking closer. "So who, no, _what_ are you? It's obvious that you're not a human by the abilities you've just showed off."

Lloyd stood up, still struggling but did, holding a hand on his wound. His breathes were ragged and tired, the blood lost was _really_ getting to him. The man took a sword out, rushing at the guardian with a murderous and revengeful gilt in the eyes. Lloyd couldn't move, weakened out and could only stand there, watching the man rush closer.

A figure dressed in black rushed to the scene and with a flicker of his gloved hand, a blade similar to the one that had been used in the desert shot forth, cutting through the killer immediately. The man split in two, the bottom half fell right off in front of Lloyd's face and the top continued moving from the force until it slammed into a wall. It was crushed, pushed into the brick wall creating a crater and crackers all around. The lower half twitched once then laid dead, the liquid from inside fountain out. Lloyd was drenched with it head to toe twisting around to stare at the direction the attack came from. The stranger began walking out of the shadows, still not visible even with the street lights, moon and stars out twinkling yet. As if fate was against Lloyd, the moon suddenly disappeared, vanishing behind a sea of clouds that had crept up from behind and the lights were blacking out, blinking off and on. He stopped in front of Lloyd and dropped something to the floor away from the mess. It was a large handbag, a dark blue one with some thing heavy inside. The watcher turned, the wind blew harder and his feet sank into the stone floor.

His words were like icy whispers that if Lloyd didn't grasp them, they would have been weeded away. "Wear them, Lloyd."

And with that he entered the ground and was gone from sight.

* * *

Alright done, I think this is my longest so far, yay!


	5. Waiting with Death

**Black Terror**

**Author: Metamorcy**

**Rating: M**

**Disclaimer**: Disclaimer: Don't own anything and never will. The watcher man belongs to me though, he's my made up person.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Waiting With Death**

Kratos glanced up from his book, his eyes wandering straight to the door with a rising eyebrow. Noishe, who was at his side, stood up, his tail wagging but didn't go up to the door as if he was a bit cautious. Another knock came, louder this time. Perhaps it was one of those drunks that were down below since he could still hear the sounds of crashing of beer jugs. There had actually been one of those an hour ago who had mistaken Kratos' room for his own. The man had argued in a slurring fit before the red head finally had enough. The poor man received a large kick in the rear and a slam in his face. Kratos made a 'hump' noise from the back of his throat, went back to his chair and began reading again, disregarding the curses from outside.

Due to that experience, Kratos ignored it; he didn't feel like facing another one and went back to his book. The door knocked again, harder this time and almost impatiently. Kratos still overlooked it, glancing to the window where the moon was shining high above the heavens, lighting its pale radiance on the streets below. Noishe lay back down, though his head was up and his tongue hanging out. The candle next to the red head was almost out, a pool of liquid wax surrounding the stick itself at the bottom, turning solid as it got further away from the flame. It flickered for a moment, the room turning dark for that second before coming back. Kratos glanced over to it, staring as if warning it not to go out and went back to the sky, disregarding his book. The stars were out tonight, sparkling like little fireflies, glittering in the whole entire space. However, the bugs and animals outside were strangely quiet tonight, not even a cricket made a sound in the deadbeat silence.

The door was slammed into, this time it sounded like the person had kicked it with his foot. A loud voice followed right afterwards, obviously pissed and irritated. "Damnit, Kratos, open this door, I know you're in there!"

This time Kratos stood up in shock, his index finger struck between the rimes of his book. The voice was so very familiar, the same one that had been with him for over five thousand years. Kratos noticed a slight strain in it as if the person was hurt and tired but pushed it behind his mind, surprised by the sudden visit. "Yuan?" He sounded uncertain at first, his mind still registering the possibility that his best friend was behind the door. "Yuan, is that really you?"

A sigh came from behind the wooden frame. "Yes, it's me, now open up. I have _something_ to discuss with you."

Kratos tossed his book aside, not sure if he was happy to see the half elf or if it was the tone of importance that made him rush. His fingers brushed up against the cold metal doorknob and twisted it. It opened, a small manmade gust of wind blew into his face and there in the middle of the hallway stood the almighty Yuan. He didn't notice until taking a second look over the half elf that the blue-haired man had a couple of bandages wrapped around the head.

"How'd you find me? And what happened?" By instinct, he reached out, his fingers touching the large bruise with care. Yuan flinched but didn't push the human away, too weak to do anything and sighed. The renegade leader wobbled to the side for a moment, losing his footing before straightening himself back up. Kratos stopped what he was doing and stared at the man with a cold watch. "Well?"

"Let me come in first _then_ we'll talk. Plus, I need to sit down, my head is still throbbing." Yuan came sauntering in, maneuvering over to the bed and laid down. The concussion still had a strong effect on him but being the stubborn person he is, wouldn't allow _that_ to stop him. Kratos closed the door behind, locked it, and twisted around, gazing over to the half elf as he sat down. Noishe's head went down against the planks, eyes closed shut. The fur that hanged down, flattened, making his head seem wider than before. The half elf first started, his voice cracking accidentally from the strain but continued on without a care. "I'll get straight to the point, has anyone attacked you the last few days?"

Kratos tilted his head slightly, an eyebrow rose. "Yes, that's right. Only one person though, it was the night I first arrived here."

"I see. Then it's true." Yuan tilted his head over so he could face the red headed human. His large blue bang was flat against the pillow, giving his vision more view. He raised a hand up to his head, massaging it so that the forming headache wouldn't be pounding in his skull. "This afternoon…I was attacked from inside my base, as you can see, I got this head injury in the process."

"Then shouldn't you be in bed?" Kratos interrupted for a moment, cutting Yuan completely off even he could tell that the injury hurt and that it was effecting Yuan's movement.

"Couldn't, I had you tell you this directly, you wouldn't have trusted it if it came from one of the renegades. As I was saying, I was attacked and knocked unconscious. Apparently, after some investigation of the room, there were actually _two_ people in there, one trying to kill me and the other; I'm not sure who, helping me. And after researching one of them," Yuan sighed at this point. "it appears like there are a group of people that hell-bent on killing us angels of Cruxis and anyone that's related to them."

"A strong hatred perhaps?" Kratos guessed, absorbing everything quickly, understanding where Yuan was coming from and going. Over the past five thousand years, Cruxis had made tons of enemies, even some without knowing, there were people that just hated their guts and would do anything to see them perish.

"Yes, I believe so. I had a report on my table beforehand telling me about them but it disappeared while I was unconscious. Luckily for me, the soldier who had delivered them had recorded how many papers there were in the first place and from whom so it didn't take long to trace back to the original owner and request for another one immediately. That was also how I found you as well, but…" Yuan stopped for a moment pausing to take a breath, his chest rising up and then down. The headache was getting worse, he squinted his left eye, trying to will it away. He turned to the side, gazing upward at the ceiling, his head _still_ hurt and the rubbing wasn't helping either.

"But?" Kratos edged, seeing that the renegade leader had paused in his speech.

"This person that saved me doesn't seem to be very _merciful_." The aqua pools were now closed shut, forcing the headache into the back of his mind.

"How so?"

"We found the person that had attacked me dead a few rooms down…Kratos, you're not going to like this…but the man seemed as if he had been tortured _immensely_ by the way he was…" Yuan grunted; the image of the man was, in spite of everything, on his mind, it was haunting his dreams. "You don't want to know what it looked like; i-it was just horrible. I can almost gag just thinking about it so I'll just give you the clean version of it. I tell you that it was so inhuman."

* * *

Yuan felt his stomach flip flop multiple times as he stared at the body or should he say body _pieces_? His eyes widen in horror, teeth chattering together as he tried to keep a straight face. The room was covered thickly in blood, the walls, the floor, even the ceiling up above his head, not an inch of white was left. If the blood on his cape was bad enough, this was worst with it dripping from above, falling like rain in the springtime. Yuan's aqua pools scanned the area, sending out for help while kicking out any renegades that had a weak stomach in this kind of thing. Limbs, all four of them were tossed all around, fingers and toes sliced off and scattered. Toe and finger nails were ripped off, the red flesh appearing from underneath, bleeding. The main body sat in the middle sliced in two at the waist, severing them completely. The internal organs were pulled out from the inside at the stomach, meaning the person was alive while this all happening, and they were hanged on the walls like ornaments. The small intestines were used as some kind of decoration, nailed to the wall going around in a straight line while the large one was running in a circular pattern on the floor around the main body like some kind of target. The heart was nailed to the middle of the ceiling and the other organs were…elsewhere. Yuan's eyes twitched in fear, his hands and fingers were shaking and his face paled. The head was rolled to the right side with a nail implanted into the forehead, the juices seeping out from the metal. He could hear the faint laughter of the person that had done all of this, echoing in the room. His stomach quenched, he felt like he was going to throw up at this very moment, the margarine forgotten. Yuan leaned to the side, a renegade rushing to help his poor leader up. On the wall, on the opposite side was some letters written in blood. "By the kindness of 'The Bleeding Black Angel'."

The music of droplets hitting the floor vibrated in the silent room, the soldiers were silent as they stared. Pools among pools littered the bottom, very little places were left untouched and as each droplet fell, a ripple was created, rushing out in the puddle.

"This is…horrible." Yuan whispered to himself, his red lips trembling at the very sight.

He could imagine the wicked grin on the man and the screaming face of the victim. Although he was glad that he had been saved but this went _too_ far, it was no longer moral. It looked as if it had been done by a monster, a blood thirsty one in fact. Yuan turned to the side not wanting to look anymore but that only made it worst. In that direction there happened to be white structures lined up against the wall. He took a closer look and found them to be bones, the victim's ones, torn right out of the flesh. He could see the rib cage and spiral cord in the pile but as he went closer, it was lined up to spell something that made Yuan gasp. "I am Death. Don't interfere with my work, Yuan"

* * *

Yuan sat up, almost twitching at the pain that coursed through his entire body. Lying down was a bad idea, it made his back snap at the sudden movement and the headache came back at full-fighting force. Kratos was about to get up to help when the half elf lifted a hand, stopping him. "I'm fine." The voice sounded strained and tired, it cracked a bit, but Yuan tried to hide that.

"Was there anything else?"

"Yes, there was another assassin inside the base; this one wasn't as bad as the other. His throat had gotten ripped apart by a sword, most likely done by the one that saved me from before. We managed to get a better look at this one, he seemed like one of those Mihuzu's ninjas but later on, I kinda recognized him. Remember, two thousand years ago, there was a powerful clan called the Makuras."

Kratos leaned in, he knew about that one to an extent, he had been one of the ones assigned in action. He answered in questions just to make sure he had everything, after all, he was too hardheaded to let the other know he wasn't sure. "The group that was against the whole Regeneration idea from the very beginning, even before we announced it? The group that figured out everything that Mithos was doing and tried to fight it and then was destroyed by Mithos because they made him furious? Didn't he leave hardly any survivors and the ones that remained alive were captured and tortured until they were finally killed in the worst possible way?"

Yuan nodded. "Yes, apparently the people are from that same village and what I can possibly guess, they want extract revenge for what we had done to them. They're killing all the angels just for that even the ones that had nothing to do with it. But even after two thousand years, their revenge is still burning, but you know, I can't really blame them on that. We did kill their family and friends all in one day."

Kratos sighed, leaning back into the chair with his head tilted back. "So that's why they attacked me…"

Yuan glanced away to the moon outside, a large sea of clouds started to cover it, the pale radiance vanishing behind it. The town suddenly grew darker and he felt a shiver run up his spine. Something wasn't right; he felt a strange presence somewhere in the town watching over them and it was nearby too. He heard a shuffle from below and glanced over, a little startled. His eyes went to Noishe and something connected in his mind. "If Noishe's here then where's Lloyd, surely your son would be with you?"

"He went out for a walk, he should be back soon."

"I…see."

* * *

Lloyd stood up from his spot, his breathing had gone back to normal and the wound at his stomach had healed up. Any lingering pan was gone and his body was functioning perfectly fine. His brown eyes went to the bag on the ground and stared at it cautiously. He bended down and grabbed the handled, lifting it straight up into the air. It dangled there for a few moments but he could tell that it was somewhat heavy like a large cat or a pile of dishes that was given to him to clean during his journey. Lloyd dropped it back to the ground with a low 'thump', kneeled down, examining it closely just in case it was a trick or something. Nothing happened so he opened the bag, unzipping it and peered inside.

"What the?" Lloyd muttered pulling out the item after widening the entrance. "Clothes?"

It was indeed clothes; the same ones he was wearing right now, even down to the buttons except that they were _clean_. He gazed down to his own, yeah, he defiantly needed to change. There was no way he could go back to Kratos with his clothes drenched in blood that would be _very_ suspicious. Something clicked in his mind about what the stranger had said before he left. "Oh that's right, the man did say 'wear this' but can I…really trust him even after he saved me from some unbearable pain? He was the one that attacked me in the dessert. I'm sure about that." He muttered out loud without realizing, investigating over the clothes. He came to the conclusion of everything being fine, nothing out of the ordinary. Perhaps he could give them a try, it wouldn't hurt would it?

"Guess I have no choice." Lloyd sighed in defeat, running to an abandoned corner of a building to change. As much as he'd like to change in some nice place, perhaps at a restaurant or another inn, he knew he wouldn't be able to get in the front door with blood drenched clothes without any stares. They would probably throw him out or hand him over to the authorities without a second thought. Lloyd groaned and began ripping off his favorite red jacket with the cold bitter air eating into his skin and made him shiver. Tonight was freezing; a wintry current was coming in from the ocean, sweeping along the land. His hair shifted from the wind, it was covered in blood but he didn't know that, he had other things on his mind.

* * *

Kratos leaned back and crossed his arms as the conversation had just finished. His bangs fell over his head covering up whatever expression that was hidden underneath. A knock at the door interrupted the two, forcing them to turn their gaze to the sound. The door opened up and in walked Lloyd Irving, all changed and cleaned up but there were still some places he had forgotten to get _rid_ of. No one noticed that expect for Noishe who, at first, stood immediately, his tail wagging wildly rushing over to his master. He barked a few times in happiness seeing that Lloyd was fine but then suddenly stopped. Lloyd blinked, tilting his head to the side in confusion and stepped closer.

"What's wrong, Noishe?" Lloyd reached forward, his hand out stretched to touch the furry forehead. The beast recoiled back, growling and bearing his teeth out in anger. Lloyd's hand pulled back, his eyes widened and went to normal. He knew the reason why Noishe was acting like this, it was a warning. "I see." He nervously laughed, bringing up a hand to his head, scratching it.

Lloyd gazed to Kratos with a smile then noticed someone else in the room. He took a cautious step forward, getting a better look at the person. The guardian recognized the blue hair, the same color from inside the desert base.

"Yuan? What are you doing here?" Lloyd asked, heading closer but stopped when Noishe jumped in front still growling. His expression turned soft and somewhat sad, it seemed that the beast could still smell the blood stained on his skin. Noishe always became like this whenever he had gone out killing, he was sensitive towards blood and if there was any lingering scent of it on him, Noishe's attitude would shift. Lloyd backed up, closer to the door with a false expression; there was no need to let the others read his thoughts. He needed to leave before anyone could say anything. "Um…I'm going to see if I can take a shower. I'll see you two later. Bye."

Lloyd opened the door without looking back and closed it on them with an average slam. He leaned back, his body up on the wooden frame. His head was tilted downward to the ground; a black shadow was casing his face with a frown crossed below. As he tilted his head back up, the eyebrows were slanted down, narrowed, and his eyes were skewed smaller. 'If Yuan's here then that means he's figured it out. He knows about the organization and the killings. Damnit! ...but….' Lloyd turned, glancing both ways to make sure that no one was around and then stared forward. 'He doesn't seem to know that it's _me_ whose been killing everyone. Oh well…' He tried not to laugh out loud that would attract too much _attention_.

The cheering from down below made him grunt in frustration and he started heading to the keeper, ignoring the noise below. Each footstep creaked on the hallway planks even as he went down the stairs. The inn keeper was at the counter, glancing over a book of numbers on the table, they must be prices.

"Excuse me?" Lloyd called out, reaching out to the counter, his fingers getting a hold of the wooden side.

The old man glanced up and snorted out a "Yes?"

"Do you know where the bathes are?"

"Ah, yes, they should be downstairs, the last door on the left hallway."

"Thanks." Lloyd curved around, heading down the direction the man had instructed. The alcohol was really strong today, perhaps it was because it was a Friday where lots of people were getting off work and gathering into small little gatherings and drinking till their bladders fell off. If he had the choice, he would kill all of those men or just order them to leave and piss off, either seemed fine to him. As he passed down the hallway, numerous doors were wide open, some had drunks on the floor, others had people giggling, playing poker and there were some that were doing something he'd rather not mention. Opening the door to the bath, the steam from inside hit his face with full force, almost feeling like it was burning his skin. His brown pools scanned the area, searching for anyone that was within but the vapor made it hard, it was as thick as black smoke when a fire was burning. He could hardly make out what was in front of his face, not even his own hands. Glancing back at the door, it was closed shut; someone had closed it on him. He grinded his teeth and called out to see if there was anyone. "Hello? Anyone here?"

There was a loud shuffle from somewhere, a bucket, somewhere in the cloud, got kicked. It rolled across the ground until it touched Lloyd's red boots gently. He kneeled down and picked it up with one hand, holding the handle up. There was another crash in the bath; Lloyd flinched at it, grinding his teeth to show it. 'That _must_ have hurt.'

A man appeared from the steam, a red mark starting to show at his waist. He held a tense smile on his face and was rubbing the top of his head like he had bumped it. "Oh! Hello, there."

Lloyd tilted his head to the side, trying to get a better view of the man but couldn't. "Are you okay?"

The man sighed in embarrassment and nervously laughed for a second. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just so hard to see through this fog."

"Yeah, no kidding." Lloyd glanced around, there was no windows in sight or anything that could help them distinguish things better. "Are there any openings?"

"Not sure, I haven't tried looking for them yet. Maybe I should do that now; I don't want to fall anymore. " The man tried walking off again, two hands in front of his face, waving around for any unforeseen objects. His feet tapped the floor every few steps so he wouldn't trip on anything and he _defiantly_ didn't want to fall into the bathes head first. Skimming over a smooth surface, he decided that it was a wall and followed it, fingers scratching across the paint. Some it was flaky and were ripped off, disappearing somewhere below into the steam. Lloyd followed along, seeing as the pathway was safe, trailing right behind. He felt a shiver run up his spine at the sound until it abruptly stopped to a squeaking one. It was glass. "Oh, here's one." The window opened up, a cool breeze from outside entered, cooling the warm room. The coldness of the night made Lloyd shiver again with goose bumps crawling up his skin and backed away, rubbing his arms for warmth. The steam rolled out like little puffs and with that the sight was getting much better, almost to the point where Lloyd could see the figure before him. "Much better. Now, lets see if there any more."

The same squeaking sound came back and Lloyd was tempted to yell for him to stop but the sound faded away again. Another window was opened; the thick steam disappeared out of the two holes. The thickness grew less and the room began to appear more clearly. Lloyd was able to see the room roughly, like where the bathes were and man in front. It seemed that the guy hadn't even changed yet since he was still dressed in clothes.

"Now we can see, right?" He smiled, closing his eyes shut, his white hair flicking. It was short but spiky, making him look taller than Lloyd and there was this eerie feeling coming from him too. "Wel,l let me introduce myself. I'm Cradle."

"Lloyd."

The two shook hands and Cradle's eyes opened up, revealing the dark black color. Lloyd stared for a second. He had never seen people with black eyes; it looked like one large ball of ink, no pupil or anything else, not even the white. The guardian retracted his arm, turned, heading back to the changing room, Cradle following after. Lloyd felt like he was getting heavier from the buildup of moisture on his back and staggered to the other side.

"Well then, I'd better get changed, I don't want my clothes to get wet."

"Same here." Cradle smiled, pulling out his clothes from the bucket.

Lloyd paused, taking notice of something. "Huh? Don't tell me you're already taken one?"

"Yep, a little late aren't you?"

"If only I had come a little sooner, I might have been able to join you in the water." Lloyd grumbled but he actually wanted to be alone, he needed to check up on something. Plus, if he actually did something in front of someone, there could be trouble not too far behind and Lloyd defiantly wanted to skip that. There was no need in revealing to people his identity but this person _did_ seem a bit strange, different than the others. Lloyd shrugged it off; it was probably a fluke and twisted back around and went behind to a locker, unfastening his overalls first. Once they came unhook, he started with the red jacket, undoing the buttons that went down the middle. There was a loud slam from the other side where Cradle was at with a voice calling out to him afterwards.

"Hey, Lloyd, if you see my younger brother, do you think you could tell him to come home or at least get some sleep?" Cradle's voice carried easily through the steam even as he was moving away.

"Your brother?" Lloyd questioned, blinking at the weird request. Since when did people start asking such personal things especially to someone he's hardly known? Well, that wouldn't hurt him and he had nothing else to do so why not accept it. "What does this brother look like?"

A chuckle came next and the footsteps were heading to the exit. Lloyd could imagine that the person was wearing a grin, saying something that would have been along the line of 'I've got him fooled'. The loud squeaking of the hinges came, creating more goose bumps on Lloyd's skin. He shook them off by moving his arms up and down and when that didn't work, he rubbed them together. But he never heard the door shut. Cradle's voice came next. "Oh, you'll recognize him just by looking, just watch out for his emotionless or cold personality or whatever shows up. Bye, bye." The door closed silently, leaving Lloyd to wander in his thoughts. What did he mean 'just by looking'? And what about this 'emotionless and cold personality'? Lloyd shook his head, pushing the questions away and into the corners of his mind. Some thing's were best left unsaid, in particular, this bizarre man. Lloyd tossed the red jacket aside and started working on the belts, sliding them off.

"Oh well. It doesn't really matters to me."

* * *

In the darkness of the night, the watcher sat there on the inn's rooftop, staring up at the clouds with black eyes. He took notice of something flooding out from two windows, steam and lots of it too. The man blinked. The cold breeze didn't seem to harm him at all; instead, it was actually helping him calm his mind. Two voices came from below, from inside the bath where the steam was coming out. He didn't bother with them, they seem uninteresting and he already knew who they were. Why bother finding something out like that? Sighing, he closed his eyes and evaporated into the wind, the moonlight peeping out from the mass of clouds.

* * *

Lloyd opened his eyes, letting the bright light enter his pupils. He recoiled back as the luminosity burned them with everything turning white. He slowly tried to get used to it, opening and closing his eyes until it was all normal. Once he did, his brown pools traveled around the room, looking to see where he was at. It was Zelos' mansion and more importantly, in room where the place was decorated with the finest elegance of items that seemed to look like it would cost anyone a fortune. He was standing up still like a statue even when he saw what was before him. The room was painted in blood; it was everywhere and covered everything. The bed and chair each had a body in it, two familiar people on them. He took a step forward at the bed, which the covers were drenched thickly with red like the hair that was scattered among the pillow. Reaching out, he pulled the silky hair back to see the face. The skin and cheeks were icy cold and he shivered at the touch, examining over the facial expression. The dead eyes were closed shut forever and a trail of blood came from the side of the lips. Lloyd glanced at his own hands; his red gloves were dyed deeper and darker then the original color. The sun shined inside as if nothing had happened, continuing its existence. Lloyd's eyes went up to the neck where the throat had been slit wide open, the Cruxis crystal taken away, ripped from the chest and shattered on the ground. The body was pale; no blood left to run in the veins, all of it drained out. There was a constant tapping of drips and it evened out to his own footsteps as he moved. The pool of blood shifted at his feet surrounding them like it was something that could be absorbed.

He glanced to the other side where a woman sat with her head slumped over to the side. Her eyes were still open and wide but it was clouded and white. All the life that had been there was gone, the light had disappeared, snatched away by death. Her body was just like Zelos', dead and pale, but it seemed as if she had put up a fight of her own before it had ended. Lloyd could see it happening in his mind; Zelos got killed first the moment he entered the door, tossed to the bed like a ragged doll then went to attack Sheena who had entered at the wrong time.

She was held to the chair by a sword, the one that did her in. It was a long blade just like the one that had killed Yuan in his nightmare, piercing right through her chest. Her long purple hair was loose and dropped all over her face, covering it. He kneeled down, pulling it back and noticed that her lips were pale and dry. Her cards were scattered around the mingled body, sliced into pieces to the point they were no longer usable. Lloyd sighed, closing his eyes so he wouldn't be able to see anymore. He had seen enough of his friends dieing on him, and though this nightmares were useful, they ate him from the inside. But for some sick reason, he was able to relax even when his closest friends lay dead around him.

A red light flashed inside the room, the windows were stained with blood, casting its radiance over the room. Lloyd opened up his eyes, staring at the shine, trying to comfort his heart and gazed at the glowing window and suddenly, the red made him feel at peace.

* * *

Lloyd woke up feeling slightly cold, no, _really_ cold. He couldn't tell if it was because of the couch or the morning air but whatever it was, he was shivering. Sitting up, he grabbed the blanket he had used that night and wrapped it around his body, trying to keep warm. He continued to shake, hugging it tighter to keep his body's warmth together. Last night, Kratos had asked the keeper to get Lloyd something he could sleep on upstairs but for some odd reason, it was a couch. Lloyd didn't bother asking on where it came from, seeing as it had magically appeared after he had left the bath. The bed, where Kratos slept on, was empty again this morning and Noishe was on the floor next to him resting serenely. Lloyd pondered over whether or not to get up and run after Zelos and Sheena, but after some thinking, he decided not to. They were coming here and the first thing they would do would meet up with him but he didn't want to think about what would happen next.

His fingers, as they brushed up against his skin, made him shudder, his hands were icy. There was no reason for him to be cold, the atmosphere wasn't and nothing was as frozen as he was right now. As he lay back down, his brown hair went flat on his pillow, sliding off as he shifted in the covers, trying to remain warm. His cheeks brushed the material of the pillowcase, it was soft yet rough and some of the feathers that were inside poked him. Eyes wandered back and forth across the room trying to find something to look at. The place was quiet, far too quiet for Lloyd's comfort, and he didn't like it like this since he was so used to the noise made by all his friends. Gazing over to his stuff on the left side of the couch, he noticed that everything was just as he placed it. The guardian was in his black tank top; the red jacket was on the chair not too far away, along with his swords and belts. His boots were on the floor next to the couch, standing straight up into the air. Lloyd curled back into the covers and closed his eyes, he wanted more rest. His face was stuck in a depressed frown and scrunched it up when the sun's light had made a direct hit.

Noishe suddenly jumped up, noticing the movement from above and poked his head into his master's face. The guardian backed away from the sensation of the beast's smelly breath that was trickling over his face and glared coldly as him. He took the side of the covers and whipped the snot off, rubbing hard to make extra sure. Noishe made a whining sound from the mouth, nuzzling into the black shirt. The wet nose made Lloyd shiver and pushed the creature away farther until his back was deep into the couch.

"Ah, stop that." Lloyd grumbled, his shirt getting bitten into by Noishe's sharp teeth and was pulled off onto the floor. There was a hard 'thump' as he met the cold hard ground harshly and was pinned by the legs by the beast. He squirmed, squinting one eye as the beast used his weight against the teenager. A wet tongue went over his face, adding coats over coats of saliva onto him. Lloyd shook his head side to side, trying to avoid the tongue that was sliding on his skin. "Noishe, stop that!" Lloyd cried out, struggling to get out of the grip. "Release me!"

Since no one was nearby, he lifted the beast up using his inhuman strength and tossed him aside. Lloyd stood up, the weight and pressure that was once on him was gone and dashed to the bathroom to get a towel. The guardian came strolling out with it, rubbing it on his face, wiping off the remaining saliva. He couldn't help but make a disgusted sound from the back of his throat, trying the render himself clean. Noishe sat down beside him, droning in disappointment.

Lloyd glanced down with a cold glitter in his brown eyes, he was still mad. "If you're hungry, go ask Kratos, I need to wash my face now because of you." He had already feed the beast that large promised meal last night consisting of all the protozoan's favorites. Noishe had gobbled up the food instantly and finished within a couple of minutes with a clean bowl but even after that, he was still hungry.

Standing up, he dusted his pants off and headed to the bathroom, towel in hand. He needed to wash his face now, cause even though it was gone, the feeling wasn't. Lloyd sauntered to the sink that was inside the bathroom, still wiping his face of the saliva.

Another whine came from Noishe, this time it was in sensing a strange sensation surrounding his master. Lloyd smiled with reassurance, heading over to the sink and turned the faucet on. The water gushed out at a constant rate and the guardian's bare fingers ran through it, checking the temperature. Suddenly, he felt two familiar people heading closer to his location and recognized the senses as Kratos and Yuan. "Hey, Noishe, why don't you jump Kratos when he comes in? I bet he'd like that."

He was replied with a bark even as he cupped his hands, filling it up with water and splashed the coolness onto his face. The door outside opened, the hinges giving the man away. Lloyd grabbed the same towel, using the cleaner side and quickly dried off his face to see the newcomers. Kratos stood there, leaning to the side, an arm on his waist with his face twisted into a frown, the same one he wore everyday. Lloyd leaned over to see the other person, Yuan, who was missing his cape when Lloyd managed to get a better look.

Actually, last night when he had returned back to the room, Yuan was already gone and Noishe was acting back to normal, inviting Lloyd inside to sleep peacefully. The teenager eyed the eldest angel of Cruxis, it was obvious to tell that the man was weary of his own son, which wasn't working in Lloyd's favor. Even now he could feel the gaze penetrating him even as he turned around to put the towel away. Lloyd sighed, why did his dad have to be so suspicious of him all the time? Doesn't the man have something better to spend his time on? Lloyd thought about it deeper, yeah, the guy needed to get a new girlfriend or something, anything to keep his attention away from him.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash and a few muffled curses from behind. Lloyd twisted back and raised an eyebrow at the scene, he wouldn't have understand what had happened if he hadn't notice the red hair poking out from below the mass of white and green fur. Noishe was on the floor, looking quite content; his tail still wagging wildly as if he had won something great. Lloyd was trying not to laugh out loud at his father's position, holding his stomach and chocking on his breathes. Yuan kneeled down with a smile, trying to lug the beast off but found that impossible. He resigned and started laughing too, shoulders shaking in amusement.

There were a couple of footsteps coming from the hallway, quite a few of them that it caused Lloyd to get alarmed. He jumped back, getting ready for any attacks that could happen, but as he heard Kratos grumble, he couldn't stop himself from crackling up. His eyes traveled to the doorway and stopped, half of the people that stood there were fuming in rage.

It was the whole gang.

Some of them were looking worse then weary while others had a relieved expression seeing that the leader was safe. The guardian nervously waved his hands before him, trying to make the better of the situation. "Hey, there. How've you guys been?"

"Oh, we're fine, besides that part that half of us fainted at your disappearing act." Raine, who was holding her staff threateningly, sauntered forward with an evil glint in her eyes. The others remained behind as spectators even Noishe had stopped to stare. Kratos crawled out, staring at the tension between the two and sighed, he didn't want to get involved. He had told the boy that he would be in big trouble and look where he is now.

"Now, now professor-" He didn't get to say anything else before the staff came crashing down. It would have cracked his head if he hadn't sidestepped it at the last moment. The object slammed into the wooden planks with such force that it broke through. Splinters went flying and a few of the planks came unloose, flying in every direction. A piece of wood scratched his cheek, making a thin line of red on the skin. Lloyd reached up with his bare hand, rubbing across the cut and smeared the blood. His brown eyes stared at the stains on his hand and started chafing it away. Seeing blood only made his condition worse and it would awaken his inter self, he would rather avoid that no matter what the cost was. The guardian kept a watchful eye on the professor, he didn't want to get hit; it always hurt when it connected. He sidestepped to dodge the next one then again for the continuous attack. His hair bobbed up and down at each movement, his swallow tails tangling themselves together. Swing after swing came, all missing each time by Lloyd's speedy movements. This continued for a while, leaving the group amazed. He was _able_ to get out of Raine's discipline, no ones been able to do that and Genis couldn't help but have his mouth wide open in shock. Lloyd was getting good at this predicting game and wasn't even getting tired. "Come on Professor, let's stop this."

"Maybe I will when you hold still for one second." Raine huffed, sweat running down her face, she was tired out. The professor stared at the teenager, wondering why she was exhausted and not him; Lloyd looked like he did before this had all happened even after all that running around but that didn't seem to change anything. Not a single beat of sweat had appeared on his forehead and was dodging Raine's swings effortlessly. Kratos was standing up, arms crossed, watching the fight; his eyes examining each movement. Lloyd hadn't even returned an attack, only defending and avoiding, allowing the half-elf to weaken her self out.

"That's not going to happen, professor." Lloyd took that moment to jump back a few feet, heading over to the couch. Raine was taking a breather, her shoulders were moving up and down trying to catch her breath. The guardian kneeled down, quickly putting his boots on while keeping an attentive eye on his tired teacher. When she rushed him again, he jumped back farther away, tying his boots on in mid air. He finished hastily, maneuvering around Raine to grab his jacket and swords before skipping close to a window. His hair ruffled from the wind that was flowing in, the breeze cooling down his bare skin. He quickly dressed himself, standing still with one hand holding his weapons.

Zelos sighed, twirling around to the door, his long red hair spin swinging side to side until it calmed down. As much as he liked Lloyd as a friend, he'd rather not see the end of this; it was getting old and fast. "Well whatever, I'm heading back to the mansion. Sheena, baby, do you want to come along? We could spend some quality time together all alone." He grinned, winking at the female ninja and held his hand out waiting for her to take it. Sheena's left eye twitched, her hand raising up into the air and shot down, swatting the offensive thing away. A dark aura surrounded her and Zelos backed away; his facial expression of that coolness was gone replaced with fear. "Okay. Okay I was kidding, I promise I won't do anything!" Zelos nervously laughed fearful of being slapped/punched by the raging woman, after all, he didn't want to be the target of Lloyd's disappearance act to flow onto him. He whispered to himself so that Sheena couldn't hear but Lloyd did and sighed. "…not unless you want me too."

The ninja shared a glance with Zelos, making sure that everything would be fine then turned to the two still fighting people. There was really nothing to do and they couldn't exactly leave without any answers but by the way things were going, it would never end. "Sure why not, just make sure you keep yourself in check."

A pair of brown eyes widened as he listened in the exchange, they were heading to the designated place for their death. Lloyd dashed forward, escaping Raine's wrath once more and jumped in front of the two. Sheena and Zelos flinched at the sudden appearance of Lloyd before them, since _when_ could he move _that_ fast? "Wait you shouldn't go just yet, stay here a bit longer."

Zelos raised an eyebrow at him, questioning his good friend and comrade. He's never seen Lloyd this worried over something so small before, it intruded him. "Why's that?"

"Umm…" Lloyd paused trying to think up of an excuse that would work. Perhaps he could tell them about what he had done, minus the murders and killing spree he had, the clean version of it. "Well you see, there was an accident two nights ago at the stairs. They're been destroyed so it's closed down for the day until they finish repairing it."

"How did _that_ happen?" Sheena tilted her head and blinking her purple orbs since the thing sounded disbelieving.

Lloyd glanced over to Kratos then to Raine as she dashed at him again during his conversation. He jumped into the air, did a back flip, and landed gracefully on his feet. "There was this large explosion there; the stairs had been crumbled from the effect so you can't get up to the first level anymore until they repair it, which should be soon. For now, you'll all have to wait here until further notice."

"Zelos." All heads turned to Yuan who had decided to speak up for the first time that morning. His expression was serious as he took a few steps forward, his large bang waving to the side at each one. "You should listen to Lloyd, you see, the destruction of the stairs is only half of what had happened. There are dangers outside right now hunting us down; its best to stay here, that goes for Colette as well."

"What do you mean?" Raine huffed out taking a moment to stop and listen.

"There's a large group of assassins are going around killing off anyone that is related to Cruxis. The stairs was part of one of those incidents; it was the day that Kratos returned to the planet when he was attacked. From what I heard, if Lloyd didn't run away from you guys he might have died but of course this is Kratos we're talking about. I'm sure he would have handled the situation with care. Well anyway, the assassin had blown up the stairs, if you ever get a chance you should take a look at the damage, it's pretty bad." Yuan was starting to get a sarcastic edge in his voice but still had a calm expression on his face. "I was also attacked as well, I'm still not really sure what purely happened but some how I can out alive. So Zelos be careful from now on even when going outside, they're going to be after your life."

Raine started attacking again, her staff waving around in circles making Lloyd go back to running around. He didn't seem to mind but his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. The mentioning of the organization was going to make it harder for him to around not only that, he had an estimated guess that Yuan knew about the part where someone had saved him. Lloyd smiled to himself; Yuan would never admit that he had been saved by some stranger, that would hurt his pride and stubbornness. The ex-chosen shrugged his shoulders, not caring about the warning, and wandered off to the door. "Well, I need to go back anyway, I need to collect some things and check up on others. I won't be long. Sheena, why don't you come and keep me company, maybe you can help protect me from any killers?"

Lloyd eyes widened in fear, they really _were_ heading to death's door. His brown eyes watched them as they headed to the door, his body in midair.

_The sun shined inside as if nothing had happened, continuing its existence. Lloyd's eyes went up to the neck; the throat had been slit wide open, the Cruxis crystal taken away, ripped from the chest and shattered on the ground. The body was pale; no blood left to run in the veins, all of it drained out._

_He glanced to the other side where a woman sat; head slumped over to the side. Her eyes were still open and wide but it was clouded and white. All the life that had been there was gone, the light had disappeared snatched away by death. Her body was just like Zelos', dead and pale but it seemed as if she had put up a fight of her own before it had happened._

"No, you can't leave." Lloyd became desperate and as he tried to face the two, Raine came down about to strike Lloyd's head. His eyes suddenly shifted color; a hand reaching out to the staff like it was a normal reaction. It stopped as his fingers grasped it, holding it still tightly that it looked like it was about to snap in half. A dark shadow fell down Lloyd's expression even as he turned to face the professor with a cold icy stare. His eyes glared at the woman without any emotions, the blood red eyes looking like they were swirling in a circle like wine did in a glass cup. Lloyd raised his other hand, reaching for the staff and yanked it out, tossing it aside without a second thought. Raine backed away out of shock, peeking directly into the eyes, they couldn't be the Lloyd she bad known for years. Kratos and everyone else rotated to the direction as the staff clattered across the floor watching the little display with concern. The guardian reached forward so fast that the professor couldn't react; gripping her arm so tightly that Raine flinched in the pain. Lloyd snatched the other hand so that there would be no escape and using the strength that was inhuman, he picked her up and tossed her over his head. She let out a scream as she slammed into Zelos and Sheena at the same time, knocking them both down.

Lloyd blinked, his eyes going back to normal and the shadow was gone. His right hand reached up to the head rubbing the top and then shaked it side to side riding any lingering feelings. He glanced around the room, hearing the loud crash and eyed the dog pile of bodies mingled together. Moans came from it, mainly from Zelos who was trapped on the bottom of the group, face sticking to the floor. Lloyd didn't need to take a second look at the group to know what had happened before he was running outside jumping through the window. Screams and curses could be heard as he fell; the wind resistance ran through his hair like fingers. His feet gracefully touched the ground without a sound and began sprinting off, jumping to the rooftop before anyone could see him. Lloyd didn't bother looking to see if he was being followed, using his speed to gain larges amounts of distance between him and the inn.

He scaled over the tops jogging over it without missing the footing then jumped into the air heading the next one. After a while he started jumping higher, going up to the top while making sure that his shadow wouldn't appear down below on the townspeople. The woody section next to the stairs came up and jumped into it, his feet leaping from one branch to another, his sharp movements created strong gusts of wind ripping leaves from their homes. Lloyd dodged around making sure that his two swallow tails wouldn't get cut or tangled up into the branches. The new clothes were better than the last pair, they felt more flexible and comfortable but there was an echo of a feeling that was created by it, something Lloyd couldn't explain, not even to himself. He jumped over the second level soaring through the sky like a bird landing back in the trees that were between the second and first level rushing to the top where Zelos' mansion was located. His feet contacted the pavement with a sharp 'click' and started jogging down the sidewalk to the house. It was large and quite noticeable seeing as it was the biggest among the others. Lloyd was about to enter through the front door but decided to go against that since there was a high probability that the butler inside would see him so he went to the window that lead to the room. His brown pools peered around, checking if anyone was there before unlocking the balcony door with a pick. He felt it instantly, the sharp feeling on his body crawling at all directions. Lloyd licked his tongue and entered glancing the place as calm as ever. The guardian sauntered to the bed and flopped down, letting his weight press against the sheets bouncing up and down.

"Why don't you come out already? I know that you're hiding right behind me." Lloyd called out checking his gloves for no apparent reason but to stall time.

A puff of smoke appeared behind the bed with a man inside walking out. Lloyd twisted to greet him, eyes closed with a bright smile that contradicted what he was thinking. He stood up moving over to the opposite wall so that he could look at the man directly. The sun peered into the still open windows; a few breezes flowed in, fluttering the items inside the room. A few papers that were lying around were scattered, books were opened, the pages tossed. The sound of leaves quivering from the current reached their ears calming the tension between the two. Lloyd stared at the man, this one didn't have a mask on the face but there was a certain aura that surrounded this one that interested the guardian and not in a good way. He felt his blood plumping; this one was stronger than the others and more skilled too. Perhaps this one would give him some fun, the last few weren't very satisfying.

The assassin had dark blue hair tied into a pony tail and orange colored eyes that stared directly at Lloyd with caution. "That's amazing; you were able to sense me like that. How'd you know I was in here?"

"I saw you coming in." Lloyd lied, smirking brightly with an innocent expression. "You should take notice of your surroundings better. Didn't even know that I was near by when you entered the room, shame on you. So about those assassins you sent after me last night, are you the one that sent them?"

"Oh you guessed right. Yes, I sent them after you hoping that it would crack your father's sprit, seems it backfired on me instead. I wasn't expecting you to be able to kill them, I thought they more powerful."

"Why get rid of me though, you could always just kidnap me and used me as a hostage, you know?" Lloyd leaned back to the wall, watching the assassin with both eyes.

The man flinched; he hadn't thought of that, he should have done that in the first place before resorting to killing. "That's a good idea; I should have done seeing as I could manipulate your little group. Most of them are actually enemies of our organization." The man smiled tapping his fingers on the sharp blade he had in his hands. It was different than the others on how they wore them; his was on the back along side the waist. "Today I was hoping to kill the ex chosen Zelos once he entered the room except I've got you instead."

"Is that so? Well that's too bad cause he's not coming today." Lloyd raised his arms to his shoulders and shrugged, head tilted to the side. His bangs fell over, covering the right eye, his smile turning into a grin. "And since you've told me all about your 'master plan' you're planning on killing me to keep it quiet, right."

"That's right."

Lloyd smoothed out his hair by running his fingers through it. He stood there calmly without a care in the world, arms neatly folded over each other. "Well at least tell me who's the strongest in your group? I'd like to fight him when I get the chance."

"Though I'd doubt that would ever happen, it would have to be Cryan, the leader."

"I see. Good." Lloyd gazed with his brown pools; he had already known the answer it was just best to make sure. His white swallow tails were flattened out behind him; bottom tips were rubbing against the back of his knee. "I feel talkative today so I'll ask you a question. Do you know anything about the Guardians?"

"Guardians? You mean the ones that obtained powers from the dead creator?"

"That's the one." Lloyd pulled himself up, unsheathing his blades. "Do you know anything about them?"

"Of course, one of the four creators perished and its power who was the second to last most powerful was split into multiple spheres each containing certain elements. Many of them were cut in two because of its strength like water and fire for example. Apparently some absorbed others fusing it in while others tore it self apart even more. They needed owners to take care of them since they didn't have a body to function on their own. There are problems with them, they have a mind of their own and sometimes influence their owners to do certain things. Sometimes, every once in a while, after a holder dies, the sphere will steal the soul and absorb it into the power and move on to another one."

"Yeah, you got most of it down but missed some." Lloyd twirled the blade in his right hand, his eyes glittering from some unknown glow. The sun light behind them was fading behind some clouds; the view of the sky was turning grey and the assassin's shadow was disappearing, retracting back to the feet. He lunged forward; stabbing the sword into the man's side, so fast that the assassin didn't even realized that Lloyd was gone. A shock wave was admitted from the attack sending the man flying at the window without stop. The glass shattered at the impact, the body kicked out into the woods down below. Pieces of the glass fell like rain, glittering from the few specks of sunlight the peeped through. Multiple colors were cast from the reflection, red, blue, purple and more, dazzling in mid-air as they tumbled down, some had followed the killer outside. Time seemed to slow down; they were falling so slow, he could see their twirling movements. Lloyd's eyes went to the broken window, his feet sliding across the floor, there was a little blood on the sharps ends that somehow remained intact with the frame. His feet crunched on the pieces; they broke into fragments, tiny pieces that looked like diamonds. The wind was stronger, his bangs shifted at the current the poured in and he stared down the glass, kicking some aside. Lloyd jumped out, moving thorough the glassy rain beyond the balcony, eyeing the area for the fallen man from up above. His eyes caught a dash of black zooming through the trees; he trailed after it gaining distance between the two. A bright light came from below in the woods, Lloyd who was up in the air dodged the magic attack with ease. He landed on a branch then started tree hopping from on to another. The two ran without looking back, Lloyd wasn't sure on how long; he just had the instinct to kill that was pushing him forward. An opening appeared in the numerous trees; it was isolated and deserted of any life except for the Lloyd and the assassin. His steps slowed down, completely stopping and eyed the person standing on the opposite side; a large piece of cloth was wrapped around the waist. It was saturated with blood but the man didn't seem to be bothered with it.

"That was amazing; you're quite the speed demon." The man commented watching Lloyd with a different kind of attitude even as the teenager started twirling his blades in a circle. "Perhaps fighting you will be funnier than I thought."

"Oh before I forget, I should warn you on some things." Lloyd rushed forward again eyeing the assassin's blade that had been raised up into that air. He jumped forward acting like a bullet, twisted around; the left arm coming up above the head for the enemy's blade while the right went straight. The two swords collided together, sparks hopped off; the sharp scratching sound filled their ears. Either one was moving, both of their strength was equaled out in the little tug of war. Lloyd's other sword penetrated into the rib cage right above the stomach, the flesh was ripped apart making way for the foreign object. Lloyd tilted his head, yanking it out slowly and uneasily making the cut worse than it already was. "You're no going to leave this place alive. I assure you that."

The killer bit his lip trying to stop himself from screaming and hopped back a few steps. His left hand was holding the side, one eye closed shut. The breathing was uneven and hitched; he was trying to regulate himself back to a fighting position. He hadn't even considered that the boy would be _so_ different, or even _this_ powerful too. "Damn you."

Lloyd smiled pulling a Kratos line, straightening his footing. "If you have enough strength to talk then you have enough to fight."

The guardian darted frontward again but instead of killing the man, he stabbed both swords into the ground, using the force to spin himself, legs in the air. His boots collided with the head at the cheek kicking the man aside, the jaw broken. The sword in the man's arm flew away, dancing in the air and crashed into a tree remote far from them. A grunt came from the killer as the back slammed into the bark of the tree. It cracked and squeaked with a long line riding up the wood from the force but remained intact. When Lloyd's feet got back on the ground, he strolled forward, ripping his swords from the earthly hold and sheathed them away until further use. He kneeled down, at head level with the dizzy killer; his right hand grabbed the throat squeezing it tightly, the bones inside creaking. The arms flailed around wildly, chocks for air gasping out, desperate to break off. Lloyd grinned squeezing tighter, watching the face turn pale from the lack of oxygen then suddenly released the man, jerking the killer forward then back into the tree. He stood back up, unsheathing his left blade and brought it forward, examining the best spot to pierce the skin at. His eyes ran over the side, stabbing it into the right shoulder where the bone and a main blood vessel rested. The killer screamed jerking forward, the face twitching from the pain that coursed in his body. Doing the same thing to the other shoulder except with the other sword, Lloyd's eyes scanned the surrounding area, searching for something he could use to make this more painful. He caught sight of the item he needed, it was large and sharp; he lifted it up high above his head testing it out at first. He played with it, tossing it back and forth between his hands finding the weight agreeable.

"Well looky here, I've found something great." Lloyd brought it down, slamming it at the left knee with an evil gleam in his expression. A sickening sound snapped as the bones in the leg broke in half rendering the limb useless. A cry escape from the man, tears welling up in the sockets, Lloyd still had that smile on, unfaltered by anything. His fingers grasped the rock again, lifting it back up and down onto the other one, breaking it. He started laughing at the man's misery, dropping it on the ground with a flat 'thump'. The assassin couldn't move, his limbs were all broken and useless now, he couldn't even feel the muscle either just the pain_. It hurt_. It hurt like he was actually dieing and he wished it would just end; this torture wasn't worth living for. The blood ran down his arms, the man couldn't shift those either and he felt heavy like a sack of flesh. Everything was so painful and the grin from above was just mocking him, asking him to scream out.

Lloyd couldn't stop, he found this all too humoring, and continued on with his shoulders shook and mouth wide open. The assassin's eyes widened in fear, this side of Lloyd scared him and even tried backing away, pushing him self closer to the bark. Even as the guardian crocked, he reached for the item for one last time. He raised it high above the head, a dark shade cased over his face like a mask. The guardian's shadow covered the killer, the eyes widening and started begging for mercy, but he didn't listen. Lloyd 'humped' and smashed it into the head, Lloyd still holding it afterwards. The killer fell forward, the rock had cracked the skull, blood oozed down from the spot, over the chin and to the neck. He brought it up, tossed it harder and demolished the skull with another crack. A white liquid leaked out, the head looked like some kind of mush covered in blood. Appearance of white, bones, could be seen in the mess Lloyd stared at the corpse grinning, going back to his laughing state, his voice cackling. He stopped for a moment, taking large gulps of air before ripping out his swords. The body fell, slumping to the side, more blood spilling out. The terrible grin was still there, a pool of blood formed around the body. "Sorry but I can't allow you to live. It was your fate, deal with it."

He sauntered from the battle field, moving from the murder he had just committed. Lloyd entered the woods, heading back to town, his clothes brushing against the leaves and branches. His twin swallow tails would sometimes get tangled up in the branches forcing the guardian to yank them back out. He didn't care where he was going just as long as he got away from the spot before someone found him. His feet stopped in front of another opened area, a large rock sat in the middle, alone. The grass here was taller up to his knees, covering up the earth underneath with its greenery. His feet squashed it at each step he took, heading over to the rock, the crunching sound underneath the boats. Lloyd's left hand glazed over the smooth surface, run down from the constant elements of nature that tortured it. He jumped up a bit, sitting on top of it like the king of the land. A sudden gust of wind blew though the abandoned field, an unsettling feeling grew in the pit of his stomach. He was losing control of himself even more, losing to his other side and there was no stopping it. Somewhere inside the guardian's head, he _knew_ that this would happen some day and accepted it. Why fight yourself when he could just join in, there was no point in fighting a battle he had already lost. Lloyd could feel the presence behind him, arms wrapped around his shoulder holding tightly and not willing to let go until he's won

The grass shook, bending to the current's strong will, Lloyd's brown eyes stared out in space. The sky darkened with splotches of water raining down, slowly at first before speeding up. The place became drenched, Lloyd wasn't affected by it instead he welcomed the downpour to cool his head. He felt his clothes weighting him down, they had grown heavy from the extra load. A pang of agony stabbed at his chest for a moment, tossing Lloyd over to the side, a hand at the spot holding it. He leaned forward; he couldn't breathe, it was like something was crushing him from the inside. It went away soon after, the rain beating against his body, his hair flopped down and the clothes sticking to his smooth peach skin. The color lightened on his skin and the red on his jacket was darker, fully soaked. Lloyd stood up, continuing his walk back to town, hands in his pocket and head kneeled downward to the ground.

He didn't care about anything around him; the dark aura surrounding him began to dampen and lighten up. Strolling around the neighborhood, his breathes began to become hazy and choking. The place look abandoned, no one walked the place even the animals were hiding in crates and whatnot. It was extremely lonely but it left him in his thoughts and allowed him gather the courage to face his father and everyone else. Lines of water ran down his face and neck, the hair sticking to the forehead and flattened out. Trees were shifting from the strong current; some of the branches were torn off slamming to the floor. Lloyd dodged those that took off at him and watched out for it even some of the stuff that had been ripped apart from buildings. It was getting quite dangerous but he ignored that, he didn't seem to mind it the threat. The rain beat against his body and he was feeling _really_ bitter and lonesome, his expression showed that. His mind was far away, his eyes caught a glance of the yellow light that that was flowing out of the inn's windows and turned to that direction. As he entered the inn, he ignored the others heading straight to the stairs and to the bedroom he and Kratos had shared. Droplets of water fell off his hair and clothes; he was basically creating a trail of liquid to his destination. Lloyd slammed open the door and proceeded to get into drier clothes, stripping off the wet ones. It didn't take long, there was no one insight not even Noishe. The moment he put on a black shirt, the door knocked lightly making the guardian change his blank stare.

"Come in." His voice was slightly horsed but the guardian didn't seem to care or take notice of it. He felt a headache coming on, pounding on his brain.

"Yo, Lloyd...Hey, is everything alright?" The moment Zelos opened it; he noticed the strange look Lloyd was giving him. It looked emotionless and lifeless just like how Colette looked when her soul was lost; the teenager was even paler than usual. He was holding a towel in hand and headed closer, eyeing the guardian with a stern look. Zelos felt nervous, there something strange admitting from his friend and it made his skin crawl. His blue eyes wandered over Lloyd's frame, giving him a quick check, nothing much seemed out of place. "Hey, Lloyd you pale."

He noticed that the hair was still wet, and rushed to the eternal swordsman's side. "Were you out in the rain this whole time?" Lloyd didn't answer; his eyes were staring at the wooden planks like he had found them interesting. Zelos put a hand on the forehead, checking for something. He wore a concerned expression; completely forgetting about the incident this morning. Lloyd flinched, startled by the touch and recoiled back a few steps, his breaths were short. "You're burning up!"

"I'm fine." The guardian turned around, but a sudden sensation of weakness made his legs wobble. His checks were bright red and sweat glued the rain soaked hair to the forehead. He tried taking a step forward but his footing collapsed, falling to the side, head slamming into the ground. A voice cried out, probably Zelos' and a warm hand touched his head, lifting it up into a lap. The vision faded and closed into the darkness that was overcoming him. He felt cold like he was encased in ice but there was warmth too, the feeling of skin against his own keeping him tepid. It felt good; it was something he could never have no matter how much he wished for it, to embrace him. Anyone that had tried to get too close always met the same fate, death. Lloyd glanced up, his eyes tired and closing, he could see the concerned face of Zelos staring down at him calling out help. He made a reassuring smile catching the red head's attention, a hand reaching out. But before it could make contact with Zelos' shoulder, it fell.

"Lloyd! Lloyd!"

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Please don't think this is a yaoi, yes the scene may have you thinking that but in this one they are just friends and don't think I don't like yaoi, I'm actually a fan of it. Black Terror will have no pairing in this one, sorry for all you pairing lovers.

I'm not even going to bother with apologizing anymore about being late, because I'm always going to be. I had to put more characters in because…no! I can't give it away! Bad me! (Slaps herself)!


	6. Waking Evil

**Black Terror**

**By: Metamorcy**

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything and never will. The watcher man and Cradle belongs to me though, they're my made up people.

Alright everyone thanks for all those reviews, I'm so happy. Finally I have completed this chapter, onto the next one and away!

**6/04/09 this had been edited for spelling**

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Chapter 6: Waking Evil

Lloyd didn't know where he was at, his mind was wandering around in the darkness but there was no place to go. He wasn't sure for how long he had been lying here, staring into the black abyss but it seemed so long. With nothing else to do, he started wondering about many things that had happened during his life, something he hardly ever did but here in the blackness of space, there was nothing better to do. His memories sometimes went back to the part where he, Raine, Genis, Colette and Kratos had been traveling together for the journey of regeneration. At that time he didn't know about Kratos being an angel of Cruxis or the Sages being half-elves or that Colette was going to sacrifice herself to save this pathetic planet. He didn't know anything about any of them but he could tell that there were reasons for their lies and anyway, there are things even he couldn't tell to them either.

The guardian grumbled to himself, the past was useless to him. What was the point of looking back at things that had already happened? To do what? Think of ways that some things could have been avoided? Lloyd hated those types of people that did that but even more he hated people who weren't honest with him. He could tell, he could tell instantly that everyone was keeping a secret from him. It was obvious, it flowed off their flesh and bones like the air they breathed but he never asked anything about it, getting too involved with mortals could cause him trouble. But in the end, he got too close, too attached, and he couldn't help but act on his own feelings and protect them. He couldn't help himself from interfering with their lives; he wanted to see them live.

His life was only a short dream, a dream that could disappear within seconds. He had liked everyone in the little group, everyone he got to meet (except for the villains) and even got the chance to see his real father but there was always a dark shadow clouding his heart, body and mind. There was no use escaping something that lived deep inside his soul, it was a hopeless case from the very beginning. When pushed away into the back recesses of the mind, it'll always find some way to come back, much worse than before. It haunts him during day or night, a nightmare that couldn't be woken up from and it became a part of a life that never ends. Why resist it? Why not go along like a rock that tumbles down a hill, getting faster at each second that passed unable to stop until it reached rock bottom where he, his mind breaks and finally loses it? Lloyd almost grinned in his sleep, perhaps he was hoping to reach it already, just to get everything done and start the blood bath, maybe that's what he really wanted. He could hear _it_ in the back of his mind, the whispering voice that sounds like the wind, telling him what to do and how. He ignores it but there are times when it sounds _so_ pleasant, _so_ soothing that he couldn't help but listen and take action. Most of the time it wants him to kills, and he does so, trying anything to make that voice weaker and disappear back into the spot it once came from. But after killing someone, he never feels guilty, killing was all he could do, it's his everything, and family was just a part of him that was far beyond his reach and forever will be. It was something he could never have, not wholly or together because to have one too close only meant death on his hand.

He felt horrible, his head was hurting and his body was aching, every bone was creaking out in soreness and his flesh burned like ice. Lloyd tried to shift his right hand; he flinched, he couldn't even explain the amount of _pain_ that had coursed inside from that one movement. The pain was tremendously _excruciating_. It was hard to breath, his throat felt raw and dry, and every time he did try, the agonizing feeling went through his body again. Opening his tired eyes slightly, his vision was blurry and tried to focus it to see where he was. He couldn't make out anything yet, everything was bouncing around in circles and some had two clones beside objects dancing. The guardian could sense that his body was both warm and cold at the same time, it was a bizarre feeling, he didn't know why but it felt good against the skin. The light from the morning sun blinded him and instinctively tried to block it but he could hardly move a muscle even the tips of his fingers. He closed them shut tightly, groaning out, hoping that someone was nearby to help. A shuffle came from beside him, the warmth was gone and he suddenly felt bitter about it. More shuffles came, it sounded like there were two people in the room, one of them getting farther away. Lloyd recognized the sound of curtains closing, the metal rings screeching over the rod that held it up. The light vanished and Lloyd opened his eyes fully taking in the situation he was in.

"Lloyd, you're awake!" A sudden yell came from the spot next to him; the other person must have closed the curtains. Lloyd winced at the tone of the loud voice, it made his head jump in agony and glanced over at his side, it was Zelos and he was leaning over on a chair with a relieved smile. "You gave me quite a shock, just like that time you disappeared. I didn't know what to do when you suddenly fainted."

Lloyd didn't answer right away, he couldn't find his voice. His eyes went over to the other person in the room and recognized the messy red hair instantly, Kratos. He tried to sit up but before he got the chance, Zelos jumped up, pushing him back down. Struggling at first, Lloyd tried to resist but found himself out matched in strength.

"You can't get up just yet, Lloyd." Zelos held him down firmly, his face clearly worried about his dear friend. It wasn't every day that the brown-haired teenager would collapse from the cold _and_ from the rain that had been collected on the clothes. Lloyd stopped his resistance and snuggled into the covers, his head on top of the pillow, feeling the feathers inside it. Zelos chuckled at the childish act, releasing his grip on Lloyd's shoulder blades. "You need more rest."

Kratos went to his son's side, staring down intensely with one visible eye. He kneeled down, the fingers brushing against the brown locks and felt the forehead. Lloyd closed his eyes, the heat admitting from the flesh was pleasant but he was freezing, his skin as cold as frost. The hands remained right there, his forehead warming up while Kratos, on the other hand, was taking information in, worried. The seraphim turned to the other red head with a demanding tone. "Zelos, get Lloyd a warm towel, he's getting colder!"

"Right!" The ex-chosen ran to the bathroom, his feet pitter-pattering across the floor and stopped when the water from the faucet turned on. The sound of the water gushing out filled the silent room, then there was the clattering of something being hit against, Lloyd guessed that Zelos was pouring the liquid into a bucket. Kratos pulled back, taking the warmth with him and stared down at the pale face. Lloyd looked and felt horrible; his complexion where it was once peachy was almost pure white with droplets of sweat forming from the pores which was unusual for this case. It was strange to see someone with hypothermia to be sweating; Kratos knew that but ignored it, too fixed on saving his son. The guardian's lips were slightly blue and he was shivering violently even with all those numerous blankets wrapped around him.

"How do you feel?" The seraphim asked, hoping his son had enough strength to talk or perhaps move. Opening the brown eyes, Lloyd tried to speak but nothing came out and coughed, something was caught in his throat. Kratos leaned forward, holding the eternal swordsmen still, and rubbed the chest tenderly. "Don't try stressing yourself. You're suffering from stage two, hypothermia. Do you know what that means?"

Lloyd knew though it was difficult listening, he understood what Kratos meant. He shook his head up and down weakly, nodding to the question and yanked the blankets closer trying to keep his insides warm. His vision was blurry but he still tried to glance around the room to search out the others. Kratos noticed it and answered without beating an eyelash as if reading the guardian's thoughts. "The others went out; the king here had requested their help in the church. Only Zelos and I were allowed to stay behind and watch you. Yuan stayed behind too, he's in the other room connecting with the renegades to see if anything new has happened. Also Raine said that right after they finish, they'll look for a doctor that's knows about this sort of thing."

The water stopped shortly afterwards, a light thump came from the bathroom. The younger red head was trying to take the bucket out of the sink without spilling any of the contents on the floor. Zelos came back with the bucket of hot water, steam could be seen floating up, evaporating into the atmosphere. He settled it down next to the two, grabbing the cold towel that was resting on Lloyd's forehead. His ungloved hands reached in, pushing in the wet towel then out when it was fully soaked, the extra water draining out. The right hand squeezed it tightly, the extra boiling liquid poured out and Zelos neatly tiled it to a square. He passed it over to Kratos, who gratefully took it and placed it back on top of the teenager's forehead. The guardian blinked at the sudden change of temperature, he had lost notice of what was happening around him and curled deep into the blankets, trying to conserve the heat.

The place was calm and peaceful, there were wispy sounds of people below shouting but it was all drowned out by the planks. Lloyd sighed, he couldn't sleep, he felt weak and even tired but sleep just wouldn't come to him. His mind ran over his thoughts, staring at the ceiling with a glassy look.

The fingers in his right hand twitched, he had felt _something_.

There was a strong surge of power moving closer, Lloyd shut his eyes, his vision going black. He tried to get up once again but his body wouldn't obey him. There was nothing he could do. He wanted to protect his father and dear friend but in this weaken state what _could_ he do? He could hardly lift a finger, how was he _supposed_ to fight?!

The glass window shattered, it startled the two seraphim in the room making them jump up from their spots. Kratos reacted first, drawing his sword and shield, going straight into a battle position, Zelos followed right after. The guardian of death glanced over, this person was different than all the others, there was a more powerful aura surrounding him. His appearance was stranger than the others he had fought too but Lloyd could tell that this man was one of them.

"Who are you?" Kratos yelled, narrowing his red eyes, glaring coldly at the man. The door behind them slammed open, Yuan rushed out from the hallway with his Swallow drawn out. Luckily, he had heard the ear shattering sound from outside while walking pass the door. His look gave him away that his posture had been rushed with his hair band hanging slightly off. He glanced over to the two for a second then the aqua pools meet Lloyd's weak ones. Yuan sneered to himself, he knew they were in trouble. Could they really protect Lloyd and fight this guy off at the same time? He started thinking but ignored these thoughts quickly, his eyes going back to the strange man who had intruded.

The person had long purple hair, the back of it was spiked up and dark green eyes that seemed to be glowing as they stared at the three angels. He was wearing a white coat something like a lab one or what a doctor would use with red stripes painted down the sides. He had an outlandish and peculiar grin that seemed to be admitting a mischievous side. "So you're the angels of Cruxis, interesting." The man stated, his eyes drifting from one to another before catching sight of the guardian's unstable stare that was fading in and out of conscious. Kratos stiffed, rushing over to stand in front of his son, trying to protect him from the harmful gaze. The intruder giggled, rising up a hand to cover his mouth. "Oh my, protective aren't we?"

Kratos gripped his sword harder; they were in a bad position. "Answer the question!"

"Well since you _so_ desperately need an answer, it's Cyran."

A gasp came from the other side of the room; all eyes went over to Yuan who had taken a step back. "The leader of 'the Dark Heavens'?!"

Lloyd grinded his teeth together and narrowed his eyes. 'Of all times for this.'

The other two angels turned to the man in shock. The leader of the organization was standing right in front of them. Cyran smiled and flicked his hand up, the seraphims tensed but after a few seconds nothing had happened. Lloyd watched carefully, something _did_ happen, he could see the strings forming around the angels' body. He wanted to call out a warning but it was too late. The three were tossed to the side, up against the wall as if hanged. Their arms and legs were glued to it and as they struggled, it crushed their bodies harder. Kratos had dropped his sword from the attack, clattering to the ground. Lloyd noticed that Cyran had flinched at the resonance and smirked slightly. The others' weapons were forced out of their hands from the shove, landing below their feet in sync. The leader giggled, eyeing his handy work before turning over to Lloyd, he strolled forward, arms folded across his chest. Stopping in front, he examined over the eternal swordsmen with a mysterious gleam.

Kratos called out angrily with a threatening tone, he didn't want to see his son get hurt. "Don't you dare lay a finger on him or I'll-"

"And you'll do what?" Cyran laughed, pointing to the red head. "You're stuck to the wall and can hardly move. You're in no position to be making orders."

Lloyd coughed, his throat was raw and sore, he wanted to say something but nothing came out. The leader's attention was back at him and he leaned over, Lloyd remained still, unaffected. He stared coldly at Cyran with a hateful gaze. What was this man going to do to him?

"Seems you're sick, this might work well for me." The leader mumbled, sitting down at the edge of the couch beside the sick teenager. He pushed the covers slightly; making sure that the guardian was comfortable first. "Alright Lloyd Irving, I'll make a deal with you."

The eternal swordsmen glanced up, curiosity shining in his eyes. 'A deal? For what?'

"You see, there's been someone going around killing off my men and assassins. So far no one has been able to come back alive with any information about this killer and it's been driving me mad. Sometimes I can't really believe who I send out for those missions these days. The guy is quite intent on protecting the angels at all cost. The first attempt was after your father, I had sent in three assassins, all three of them were killed, but I'm sure you killed the one that went directly after Kratos from what my resources say. The other of the two, one was easier to find, he was the one with his head chopped clean off and the other…she was nailed to the wall inside the sewers, torn apart and half eaten by the rats. The next attempt was further away, Yuan, but that one was also dwindled, the two executed brutally. The third one was on you; thinking that taking you out would weaken Kratos, three bodies dead." Cyran groaned to him self, shaking his head. "We had to clean out their bodies from the section of the middle class part of the city. I have a sneaky suspicion that the man appeared before you but by the looks of it you don't remember." Cyran caught notice of the shocked expression on Kratos' face from the corner of his eye, he turned to him. "Lloyd probably didn't tell you that now did he, Kratos?"

The oldest seraphim looked away; he hadn't realized that his son had been attacked until now.

"I'll take that as a 'no'. Well, moving on, the fourth one was at Zelos, we only sent in one that time but he never returned."

Yuan cut in without warning, there was a strain in his voice; the pressure on him was powerful. He was putting things together; he already knew what the man wanted. "So you want to use Lloyd as bait to draw out this killer?"

The leader clapped his hands, glad that someone was figuring things out. He turned back to Lloyd who was watching the man warily, looking for any lies. "That's right, also you'll get treatment for the hypothermia from the organization plus I'll cut off all attempts on his friends and family for now."

"'For now' doesn't sound very pleasant." Zelos sneered from his spot, frozen solid from the binds.

"I got a question for you, Cyran." Yuan twitched as the pressure squeezed on his mid section. "Are you a Makura?"

Cyran tilted his head, he smiled. "That's right; it took you a while to figure that out, didn't it?"

Lloyd bit his bottom lip, the secret was out. He had known from the very beginning about the group, he just never wanted to say anything about it. After all, he wanted to be the one that eradicates the group singlehandedly. Yuan sighed but Kratos just continued to glare at the man. "So what you're doing is revenge for what Cruxis did to your clan in the past?"

"Yep, it's all about that and I'll get to you two, the head leaders of the plan once the murderer is found. I want you to feel the same pain as what you did to my family." Even though there was a smile on Cyran's face, it was wicked.

"You won't get away with that so easily!"

"Hey you three, be quiet, I'm not suppose to be talking to you." Cryan scowled, waving his hand, the angels were pushed further back into the wall. "Anyway back on track, what do _you_ say, Lloyd?"

Opening his mouth, he tried again. He really wanted to say something, anything. He managed to get some gasping sound and nothing more, his throat was in so much pain and it hurt horribly.

"Can't talk?" The purple-haired man leaned in closer, putting Lloyd at edge. "Hmm…this'll be a little bit more difficult. Do you have the strength to write as least?"

At first Lloyd was thinking of saying 'no' but there was no need to cause any more trouble, he took a deep breath and nodded his head. As he tried sitting up, every muscle and bone creaked, parts of his body that had gone numb woke up to make the process twice as hard. He caught a glimpse of his fingers; some had a blue hue to it. Both Kratos and Zelos' expressions had worry clearly written on them, it was too early for Lloyd to be moving around. The guardian leaned forward, using his arm to hold himself up. The towel, which had gone cold by now, flopped off his forehead and into his lap. He was growing worse, the blue on his lips had darkened, and weakly he tossed the cloth into the lukewarm bucket. Breathing in and out, he was tired after that simple movement and his left hand had this prickly feeling, the type when a limb had fallen asleep. Cyran stumbled around searching for something Lloyd could write with and on, his green eyes investigating the room. On the far end of a table at the opposite side of the area was a notebook with a pencil embedded in the spinal cord.

The leader tossed it from behind, making it land perfectly into the lap with a light 'thump'. "Here use that."

The guardian opened it, flipping the pages until it could find a blank one and started scribbling down his questions. He struggled, trying to get the feeling out of his hands and would shake it, hoping that that might wake them up. The first one was held up. "What are my opinions?"

"Okay its either you come with me without a fight, I'll let them-" Cryan pointed a thumb behind him to the three angels. "-go with everything still intact, for now of course, once the murderer has been found, we start up again. Like I said before, we'll also give you treatment for the hypothermia since the doctor that you're friends are getting will probably come too late and after that you can just hang back for the rest of the days." The leader strolled around the room, his boots tapping at each step he took with the creaking of the wood boards. "If you don't comply, I kill them right here, right now, kidnap you and cage you up back at the base. How does that sound?" He stopped for a moment, and suddenly sighed deeply, muttering something under his breath. "Why hadn't anyone else thought up of this yet? We should have just kidnapped you from the very beginning; it would have saved us lots of trouble. Sometimes I can't help but think that I'm surrounded by idiots."

'I was thinking the same thing.' Lloyd commented inside his head, why _hadn't_ anyone tried that yet? Does that mean that 'The Dark Heavens' doesn't have any brilliant people working there or are they still disorganized? 'Wait a minute, the killer is me so what happens when he doesn't show up?' The guardian wrote down the next question and propped it up from the lap. The purple haired man raised an eyebrow at the question and stared at the teenager.

"Well if he doesn't show up, it depends. We might have to start torturing you to get his attention. Of course, we don't like doing this sort of thing, but there are some people at the base that has gotten their loved ones massacred by this man and will do anything to get revenge. It won't happen as long as I'm there but I'll most likely leave to head somewhere else so I can't say much about your safety."

Kratos flinched; he defiantly didn't like the sound of that. He was against the whole idea from the very beginning, he tried struggling against the binds but he couldn't even move an inch. "Lloyd." The seraphim stated clearly through the tension in the air, the guardian turned to the side, glancing up at his father. "Don't worry about us, you can decline if you want to, the risks are quite high for you."

Lloyd smiled brightly but no one noticed the sad hidden expression underneath, not even Kratos who knew Lloyd better than others. The odds were really stacked against him, there was no way he could decline this. Plus if he played his cards right, he could use this to his advantage. His hand wrote the next sentence with a fake smile, he didn't want Cyran to see through his facial. 'Okay I understand.' Torture meant nothing compared to life of his friends and family even if that meant he had to die, _again_. This was also the perfect chance to get information to help him out. Lloyd almost grinned, he _really_ was getting too attach with these mortals.

"That's a good boy." The leader took the notebook and tossed it aside standing back up. The papers scattered across the floor, some had been ripped out from the spine by the force. Kratos' eyes widened, his only blood relative was going to be taken way and there was nothing he could do about it, nothing at all but watch. Cyran sauntered over to the chair that had all of Lloyd's stuff and grabbed it all in one hand full, tossing it over to Lloyd's lap. He snapped his fingers; two other ninjas appeared behind in a thick grey smoke, each one rushing towards the guardian.

One grabbed Lloyd at one side, lifting the sick teenager to his feet, holding him up. The blanket slipped off, falling to the ground, Lloyd shivered fiercely from the sudden rush of cold air and started rubbing his arms together to keep warm. The other grabbed the fallen blanket and wrapped it around the fragile body, maneuvering to tie it together. Lloyd held firmly to his stuff, he didn't want to lose or drop any. His feet stumbled after taking the first step forward and fell. He closed his eyes, waiting for the agonizing pain that would meet him but it never came, a warm sensation was on his waist and stomach. The two ninjas had caught him. The one on his right was holding his stomach up with a free hand, while the other had reached for something to grab on by instinct. The assassin on his left side seemed to be more careful with him, attending to his needs and make sure that everything was there, he even held the guardian up to make sure the incident would never happen again.

"Hang on, Lloyd." The Makura whispered into the ear, he noticed that the sweat on Lloyd's face was drying, the visage seemed almost whitish like the bed sheets on the bed, and a blue hue seemed to be taking the cheeks. As he turned to the leader, he heard Lloyd cough violently and felt the skin, it was really like ice, the guardian's life was in danger. "Lord Cyran, we must hurry its getting worse."

Cyran twisted around, examining the teenager again, the breaths were getting shorter. The illness was quickly getting taking a turn, it wouldn't take long to go to stage three and kill the teenager. "Alright, you two go ahead, I'll be right there."

"Yes, sir." The two replied, heading over to the broken window, the left one had to carry Lloyd in a bridal style since he could hardly stand up on his own. The brown eyes glanced behind, connecting with Kratos' red ones for a second before turning away. Cyran remained behind, eyeing the three men carefully with a grin on his face in victory.

"Well, you'll be staying right here like that for a little longer. I don't need any of you guys following. Next time we meet, I'll be killing you myself." The man twisted around, waving a hand and said a quick bye before vanishing in a thick smoke. He reappeared next to Lloyd, who was going in and out of conscious, but was holding on by a mere string, the guardian couldn't afford to fall asleep now of all time.

Lloyd glanced over; he was getting weaker and curled up into the assassin's chest. He was so cold, his skin was hurting and so was his body, he could hardly feel his finger tips. His eyes traveled around, he was trying to memorize the area and destination. Once he got better, he could escape and return to take them all out, that was the best idea for now. Trees and lands passed by and soon they crossed over a sea of water, running on thin air. The wind brushed across his face, making his brown bangs dance wildly, sometimes hitting his cheeks. A tiny island appeared, getting closer at each step, it was their destination. There wasn't much to say about it, it looked like any other island but Lloyd could tell that there was something hidden in the woods. As the four landed there, Lloyd was starting to slip out of the world, the trip had been so smooth that he felt comfortable.

"Seems you've managed to remain awake, not bad." The right assassin or Makura leaned over, the eyes staring intently for whatever reason laid inside.

Lloyd glanced away, Cyran was now at his face with his emerald eyes that had a deep glaze in them. He would have glared back but couldn't find the strength to.

"Put him to bed and get our best doctors on him immediately." Cyran ordered with a sharp tone in his voice as if warning anyone that dared to go against him.

The guardian's vision started to get blurry; he was fading out. He could hardly move, not even to keep his eye lids open and his throat burned. A hand went to the forehead, sobering him up slightly; it was warm just like any person with flesh. He could tell instantly that it was Cyran's but his seemed warmer than Kratos', a strange type of heat, it was different and it stung his face. Lloyd sensed something else, a new presence or two in the distance watching them. He wasn't sure where but right after that, the presences disappeared, he didn't understand why and before figuring it out, he blacked out.

* * *

All his nightmares were the same and ended the same, the dreams or vision where he dies, hanged by the village he was supposed to help. Dirk was always concerned about that _dream_, it was too real just like all the others and he feared that this one would come true as well. Of course, Lloyd didn't bother with it, if it was going to happen he'll prevent it when it comes. Plus, he always said if it was going to happen, then let it happen. Now, Lloyd had _another_ ability, he could always tell when someone was going to die just by looking, even right in the middle of day. The ability only worked when it felt like it or when the death was accident. Long ago there was one time he had given a warning to an unfortunate man that had guarded the village for many years.

"_You're going to die."_

_The soldier blinked his eyes, staring down at the kid that had spoken those few words. Lloyd had already foreseen this man's death but he couldn't help but feel the need to tell, to give a warning. The eyes that stared back showed disbelief. _

"_I'd watch your front door if I were you, something's going to fall and crush you." Lloyd tried harder, wanting to persuade this man; he needed to get his words across but what kind of adult believes an eleven year old kid? No one does. The soldier laughed it off, shaking his head; this was just a childish joke to him. _

"_That was pretty funny; you almost got me, now run along kid. Shouldn't your parents be worried about you? And don't go telling people stuff like that, they might take it the wrong way." The guy shoved Lloyd aside. He had taken Lloyd's warning as a gag, not believing a word that had come out of the boy's mouth. The guardian grinded his teeth and jumped in front of the man, arms wide open._

"_You're going to be killed, please listen to me." The sternness in Lloyd's eyes were powerful if only he was older, his warning might have meant something. The man grumbled coldly and shoved the boy out of his way, stalking off in a bad mood. He didn't even bother to look behind to see if the kid was alright or not and disappeared around the corner. Lloyd, who had fallen down, stood right back up and sighed, brushing his pants, another one had passed off to their demise. There was nothing he could do, adults never listened to the children, all of them thought they were lying, the lot of them. When one spoke the truth, it's taken as a lie and when one spoke a lie, it's taken as the truth. People were so messed up, they all were and many deserved their doom by their own hands. _

_Lloyd strolled off, heading to the man's house where the fated death would occur. He stood at the side of the fence, far off so not to be seen, his eyes running over the house. It was a plain wooden one that everyone in the village used and lived in, but the only difference was at the top. There was a large object, a clock made of metal and glass hanging off the wall. Lloyd could hear the bolts that held it up creak and yank apart. The ticking continued counting down the time it had left until the fated hour. The brown eyes caught sight of the man heading straight home, caution thrown in the wind. The warning hadn't even fazed him one bit, opening the fence door. As he stepped in, the bolts broke; the last one was hanging on slightly, slowly inching out. The guardian only watched, he didn't feel like helping someone who ignored his call and didn't bother to give another. The man marched forward and the clock fell, a crash echoed through the town, making everyone turn to the source. People that were passing by screamed, others rushed off not believing what had happened. The clock had fallen face first into the man, right at the top of the head. The jagged glass had broke, cutting the head open, bones and the brain could be seen inside and through the blood. The neck had been slice, the clock's frame wrapped around tightly. Cuts ran down the face, twisting it into some kind of bagged meat and the hands of the clock were pierced into the shoulder blades. The body flopped forward and into the ground, blood was running down the clothes in a thick line. The force of the impact made the frame cut in, the jagged glass pierced through the neck, poking out from the front of the throat. Lloyd remained there a little longer watching the copper-taste liquid flow across the dirt picking up tiny rock in its wake. Parents and adults covered children's eyes, motioning them away so they couldn't see the horror._

"_Serves him right' Lloyd pulled away from his spot, strolling home, his feet kicking up the dirt. A puff of dust danced around his feet, floating with the wind's current and disappeared behind. He didn't glance back, this was the second time he had seen the twisted face of the man he didn't want to make it a third. Screams and whispers quickly filled the town and soon everyone knew what had happened. As he was leaving through the front gate, one of the guards stopped him, running up. _

"_Lloyd!" The one on the left called out, stepping forward trying to get the boy's attention. Once he got it, the men continued, he had luckily caught the kid just in time. "You've probably already heard by now about the whole incident so if it's possible for you, could you tell your father?"_

_The guardian had a dark expression in his eyes, a dangerous one but the bangs covered it up and prevented from being seen. He put on a fake smile and cheery voice to make the adult happy. "Sure, I don't mind."_

"_Thanks a lot."_

_As he left, he cursed out the man and the one that didn't listen to him; they're all stupid and ignorant. Lloyd kicked a random rock, watching it bounce on the dirt, tumbling into a stream. The woods were quiet today not even the wind blew; perhaps it had sensed the death of the villager. Lloyd continued on down the same path to his house, something he did everyday, he had already memorized the terrain long ago. A bark came from behind and a rustle in the bushes, a mass of green and white jumped out, the tail wagging wildly. It was Noishe and he seemed to be happy to see his young master so he trotted closer. Lloyd patted the head softly but there was no sort of expression except for the eyes on his face that was still dark and gloomy. _

"_Sorry Noishe, I failed again."_

_A whine came, it was nudging him forward and not to give up. The large head pushed up the left hand, rubbing the wet nose on the glove. _

"_Hey, I know, but no one ever listens to a kid." The guardian droned out with a bitter smile seeping onto his lips. "Never."_

* * *

Lloyd jumped up, he wasn't sure why but he felt a powerful surge rush through his body. He glanced around; he was encaged with thick silvery metal walls, not a single window and no one insight. There were a few loosely placed chairs in the room, randomly placed. Gazing down to his fingers, he trembled, he was still cold but there was color in them now. Lloyd reached for the covers he had thrown off by accident, wrapping his freezing body in the still tepid sheets. A puff of steam appeared in front of his face and he fell back onto the pillow. The brown locks scattered along the case as the eyes wandered the area, there was a door in front made from the same material.

"So you're awake." A voice called out to him, he recognized it instantly and didn't budge from his spot. Scanning the area, he looked for anything that could be watching him like a camera. On Symphonia(the planet's name), the people did have some high level technology but this base proved that these people weren't the normal everyday ones Lloyd saw. These people had technology that was far too advanced for anyone here to handle so it didn't hurt to be cautious but Cloud made a remark that eased Lloyd's mind. "Don't worry. There aren't any cameras around but two guards just outside the door. Its thin so don't speak."

"I've looked around the area, there's only two exits but I'm afraid the leader has already left the place, there seems to be two bases just like the renegades had. Sad to say, I couldn't find it but right now outside, there is some uneasy tension building up." Cloud was leaning back on the wall, the black coat seemed to be part of him now like the skin that was probably somewhere underneath and if Lloyd didn't notice it, it looked like Cloud was fading away. He didn't ask and avoided bringing it up, he had no intention of being a busybody. "They're going to wait for a while until you get better before the torturing starts, they don't want you dying on them. The leader isn't here anymore so anything can happen so be careful."

Lloyd pulled the sheets closer; he could feel his strength returning, a lot actually perhaps well enough to attack and fight back. Suddenly, Cloud vanished just as the door slid open, one of the Makuras; the one that had carried him, strolled in. He had his hands behind his back with a goofy grin plastered on his face. Now that Lloyd was able to get a better look, this person seemed a bit odd from the group like a white spot in a sea of black. The guy had a bright expression with a happy-go-lucky personality not as gloomy as the others. He was dressed like all of them though, but the hair color stood out the most, it was bright red like Lloyd's jacket and stick up into the air like it was defying the laws of gravity. The eyes also could draw in one's attention with the vivid sparkle; the pure golden hue was just like the sun.

"Oh, you're awake!" He rushed forward, pulling out a chair and sat down right next to Lloyd's bed. "How do you feel? Better?"

The guardian opened his mouth, he wanted to try talking. "Y-Yeah." It was horsed and strained but it was there and working.

"Ah, good, I was so worried that you might not wake up. Oh before I forget, the name's Mead."

"Lloyd.'

"Ah, I can't believe I'm talking to someone like you, I'm so honored." Mead smiled, leaning forward towards Lloyd. He was acting like a child with that glittering gleam in his eyes and hands clapped together.

Lloyd blinked, was he really that much of a celebrity? "What do you mean? I haven't done anything I should be remembered for. If you mean defeating Mithos and restoring the two worlds, anyone would have done that. It would have happened eventually; it just happened that that time was then."

"You're so honest." The assassin tilted his head, the smile was softer and some of the bangs slipped off. "You're something I can't be. We've been watching your group's process and your actions towards Cruxis, many people admire that strength you have, the one to move forward."

Reaching over, Lloyd had his hand raised up high above his own head. He sat himself up, the coldness of his skin forgotten and tapped the top of the man's head affectingly. Not saying anything, he just sat there, rubbing the top trying to comfort the older man without speaking a word. It looked like a kind-hearted gesture but Lloyd had other plans, he needed information but for the Makura, he blushed at the simple contact.

"Colonel Mead, the top authorities have requested your presence." A voice pierced through the door, startling the two for a moment. Mead yanked himself back at the call, he didn't want to be seen like this with the enemy, that could get him on bad terms with the organization.

"Alright, coming." Mead yelled back, jumping up from the chair, he turned away for a second then back. "Well then I hope I see you again."

"Me too." Lloyd smiled brightly, tilting his head over so that the bangs would slip over the right eye. He was a little angry that his chance was gone, damn interruptions, but not all was lost, he had gotten something out of the conversation. His group had been monitored and that he was the _good_ guy. As the door closed, his expression shifted but the smile didn't, he stared at the spot the man was last at. "Especially when I get to kill you." He giggled quietly to himself, he wanted to see that happy expression twisted in horror, oh how _fun_ that would be, no, how _wonderful_. His shoulders shook in anticipation and would have laughed out loud if he didn't hear a crash outside the door and some a couple of screams. It was familiar to him, matching the voice up with Mead and sighed heavily, the guy was an idiot.

* * *

Kratos groaned, he had been on the wall for too long and the moment he fell back down, pain filled his legs. They had gone numb from the long wait and hadn't been prepared for the sudden drop. Glancing over to the others, he quickly checked up on them, making sure that they were alright. No one was hurt, not even wounded unless it was mentally but that didn't happen. Yuan caught sight of Kratos' stare and nodded his head, standing up, still a bit wobbly. A lot of their blood had flowed into their legs from that long wait.

"Seems I was right, this will be more troublesome than I had anticipated." The blue-haired seraphim used the wall as leverage, his feet were still asleep. "Fighting the Makuras isn't going to be easy, they are extremely skilled people and as to what we had just saw, they must have been training up for this moment."

"Then we've got to rescue Lloyd, he's in trouble if he stays there too long." Kratos mumbled under his breath, he stood up as well examining over their current situation. Zelos remained seated, he wanted to help but where to start? They didn't know where Lloyd had been taken. And they couldn't fight back against someone that powerful unless they wanted to die or at least had a strategy thoroughly planned out. Kratos knew that as well, he didn't know where the group's base was in the first place. It was like searching for a needle in a hay stack but he couldn't give up that easily, there was always a way even in the darkness.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that to happen." A voice cut through their minds.

Kratos tried to twist his body to face the intruder but he was frozen, he couldn't move at all. No one in the room could as if they were held down by some invisible force or wires. It was like when they were being held to the wall by that magic spell and couldn't move. An old feeling appeared, fear, coursed through their souls, something they hadn't experience for years was now running through their veins.

"Who are you? And what have you done to us?" Yuan retorted, he couldn't even twist his head around to see the person either.

"That's none of your business." The voice spoke coldly, coming closer; the footsteps were soft on the wooden planks. There a light noise like something was sweeping across the floor, maybe a cloth. The footsteps stopped right behind the three, Kratos managed to get a glimpse of something black and white. "Goodnight, everyone."

Kratos didn't understand the meaning of the words until a black portal appeared underneath his feet. It crawled up the legs, vines sprouting out from the dark pit with undetectable grips. They reached up to his head, wrapping around the neck, a tight squeeze on his flesh. He grinded his teeth together there was nothing he could do but wait for the end.

* * *

The wind blew softly, whispering to anyone that would carefully listen to its voice. It carried over the water, through the trees and even around the people. If one were to stop and listen, they could probably hear a voice, soft and tender like the rustling of the leaves, talking back. It was a voice that said many mysterious things, sometimes it sounded like a person, sometimes a monster and sometimes a warning of the future being told. It came in different ways, went in different ways and ended in different ways but they were all the same. The wind could also be just a comforting breeze, a ghost that remained by everyone's side throughout the world and only left when they died, after all they would be buried 6 feet underground where the voices couldn't reach.

The watcher sat in a tree, his eyes watching the base down below with a stern gaze. His black coat blended in with the darkness of the forest and his white hair was absorbed by it. He twisted his hand, folding it in and out until the glove grew contented on his pale skin.

"Was that really necessary? To knock them out like that?" Someone spoke behind, the blackness covered the person and it was only in the evening.

"Yes."

"So when are we going to attack?" The other man wanted to get started already; he wasn't very patient and was tugging at the watcher's coat like a little child. The light shifted from the breeze, the leaves moving from their previous spot, shining light on the person. He had short white hair and black eyes, it was Cradle; the one Lloyd had met in the bathes.

The watcher man didn't reply, the black eyes struck eyeing the men that stood in front of the entrance. He didn't budge remaining as still as possible, even when the wind shifted. Closing his eyes, he felt it run over his face, listening in on the voice. "Later." The hair rustled like the leaves and he leaned back on the tree, letting out a deep breath. A leg was hanging loosely over the side, swinging back and forth, rocking the branch a little bit. Cradle crawled closer, leaning down to the lap using it as a pillow and wrapped his arms around the man's thin frame, squeezing tightly. Shifting upward, his face rested on the chest, snuggling into the shirt and took in a whiff of the clean smell on it.

"If you're not going to attack then let me sleep peacefully for the time being, I'm tired." Cradle relaxed his legs on the numerous branches, making himself comfortable. Closing his black eyes, the watcher slowly wrapped his arms back, holding the man dearly. His gloved fingers ran through the silky hair, playfully tugging at the locks and smoothed them out straight. The wind blew, shuffling the work the man had just done forcing him to redo it. The watcher didn't make a sound, getting back to work, letting his thin fingers going through again. He leaned over, whispering kind words into Cradle's ear, the white hair shifting to cover his eyes underneath.

"Sleep tight."

* * *

Lloyd stood up from the bed; the medicine they had been feeding him was working wonders on his body. He still felt a little weak but it wasn't as bad as when he first arrived, the hypothermia was almost gone. It had only been a few hours from when he had arrived but he had a feeling that it was already the next day in the early morning. It was hard to tell time when there was no clock or windows to see the light outside. The guardian suddenly coughed, his body lurched forward, hand covering the mouth, he was still miserable though. He held onto the railing of the bed so he wouldn't fall over and had a painful meeting with the cold floor. There was a temporary peace between him and 'The Dark Heavens' but that wasn't going to last long, the killer was never going to come, he was already _standing_ inside.

He sighed, it was hopeless, he was going to get tortured at this rate and there was no one to save him. There had to be some way out of this mess, perhaps he could leave, no that might make things worse and he was still healing. His friends and family would get attacked before he could even reach them. His brown eyes were staring at the wall; there wasn't much to do in this blank room and there were no people to talk to either. Magic could work but Lloyd had a gut feeling that this building could neutralize it except for his higher level ones.

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts, breaking him away from the wall. The door opened, Mead was back with the cheery smile but something was off. There was a hint of depression in it, Lloyd raised an eyebrow at it, the man couldn't hide his feelings well.

"Hey, Lloyd, today you're going to come with me." Mead tilted his head; the red bangs fell to the side, golden colored eyes closed.

The guardian took a step back; he felt a little threatened by the uneasiness that was seeping out from Mead's form. "What's going on?" There was something wrong with this situation and he felt it in his stomach. "Something is going to happen to me, right?"

The smile on Mead faltered, it fell like a tower made of stacked cards where the slightest movement would make it tumble. The depression came and the Makura quickly put the smile back on, trying to cheer up the mood but it only made things worse. "Well you see, some of the other members have decided to go ahead of the plan and start the torturing right away since the leader is gone. They want to meet the killer immediately."

"I see, so you're worried about that?"

"Yes." Mead sighed, his head flopped down in defeat. "They're going against Lord's Cyran's orders, well, I don't blame them, some have gotten their siblings killed by him, they must be so eager to see this person that brought death upon their family."

Lloyd groaned to himself, he had seen this coming, this was, after all, part of the deal. "Its okay, I'm fine with it, I had already agreed to put up with this."

"Are you sure? I can continue fighting for you, you're still sick. I can tell cause you're straining yourself out just from standing."

"I guess it's obvious." Lloyd stepped forward, he made it look like he was about to fall at any moment. He wanted them to underestimate him so when he launches a counter attack, he would get to see the surprised expression. That would be great and it could probably make his day. After a while, his mind began wandering how long the torture would last, no; he wouldn't allow it to go on too long; there were limits to his patience. 'Hopefully not too long.'

He exited out of the room, Mead by his side steering the way, the hallways were all the same as goes for the rooms as well, made of silvery metal. There were numerous doors on either side with some soldiers walking around; sometimes they turned to glance at him, while others avoided it. Lloyd was dressed up with everything even his twin swords that was hanging at his belts was with him. He was actually wandering why they wanted him to have them in the first place, wouldn't it be safer for him to be weaponless? Were they planning to fight to lure the killer, put him right out into the open? Numerous thoughts ran through the guardian's head, too many at once that it began to give him a headache. They passed blended-in doors that were connected to the walls; he wasn't sure where he was going anymore or where he was at. The place was so confusing; everything looked exactly the same both in and out.

"Ah, here we are. Hey, Lloyd, where are you going?" Mead called out, grabbing the guardian's hand and yanked him back a few steps. "It's right here."

"This place is so confusing." He muttered under his breath, staring harshly at the door, he hadn't even noticed that the assassin had stopped. "How do you tell them apart?"

"We memorize them and how far from each side. After living here so long, you get used to it." The door slid open, it was dark inside; almost pitch black but Lloyd could feel the essence of people. He took a step forward, something made him freeze up, something _else_ was here; not just the people but something entirely different, and took a glimpse behind. His eyes scanned the hallway and the bottom of the floor where the light was streaming in. There was nothing at first, the surge was still there coming closer. For a split second, he thought he had seen something flash across the floor in a flicker but no one had passed the hallway. He felt it had looked at him, a powerful glance in his direction as this being passed. Lloyd managed to catch a glance, it was black and he could still hear the footsteps echoing. He glanced around the room then to Mead, they didn't seem to notice it or perhaps they couldn't hear the noise. The Makura noticed the strange expression and tilted his head, following Lloyd's stare. "Is something wrong?"

Lloyd blinked, coming back to reality. "No, its nothing." He entered inside calm as ever but there was a more cautious air surrounding him. What he had seen wasn't his fabrication. Lloyd coughed, hand rising up to his mouth, and squeezed his eyes shut. He lost his footing right afterwards, collapsing to the floor in a kneeing position.

The man leaned over, helping the eternal swordsmen stand straight up. "Are you _sure_ you're okay"

"Yeah, I can handle anything thrown at me."

The lights activated once the door closed, a large group of Makuras, estimated around thirty of them, stood in the middle in a circle. All of them were staring, arms behind their backs, folded. As he stepped closer, their eyes followed every movement, neither of the two groups was willing to speak up.

"Well do your worse." Lloyd muttered after taking a deep breath, he would only allow this to happen for a little, he was still trying to work out a plan that he could use.

Weapons of every kind appeared from behind their backs, torture weapons and blades. Lloyd stopped himself from wincing, squeezing his fists, he could feel the rage admitting from the group. The first one that came forward was swinging a whip around in a circle; the noise of it as it went against the air filled the quiet room. He struck it on the floor, making Lloyd flinch at the snap and stepped back. It rose back up into the air and slapped it around the guardian's ankle. The whip yanked and Lloyd fell, cracking his head on the metal floor. He thought he had heard something break at the back of his head, the pain making his eyes teary and wet. His vision was blurry and jumpy, the man came forward flipping the whip and stood above Lloyd staring down. Lloyd squinted his eyes; he was seeing double vision, he only had to wait a little longer. Thoughts ran through his head and he felt a dark stream flow through his body.

Why was he putting up with this?

_Yes, why?_

Lloyd grinded his teeth together, the scratchy noise screeching from the friction. The pain hurt, but it wasn't as awful as he had first thought it would be. But really, what was the whole point of doing this? Couldn't he just kill them all off right now and get rid of his future troubles?

_You could, couldn't you?_

He could, couldn't he, all his annoyances would be gone.

"You should stop thinking about killing, Lloyd."

The guardian of death jolted up, sitting up in shock and gasped out loud. The group froze glancing around, trying to pinpoint the voice but there was no where anyone could hide. Struggling, he stood up on his feet, shaking his head, trying to rid the pain. The voice belongs to that man's, the one that had given him the clothes at that time.

"Behind you."

He did as he was told and almost jumped back at the closeness. The man that had been calling him was right in his face, expressionless, and had no concern that his identity has been found out. Lloyd noticed something peculiar; this person seemed a little familiar, the white hair and black eyes darker than the night sky. "Cradle?"

The watcher tilted his head, nothing had changed and a few bangs slid over, covering his left eye. "I see, so you've met him." This one was dressed darkly, a long black trench coat draped over the body with black clothes hidden underneath but it was hard to tell even with the coat open. "My name is Drang, Cradle's younger twin brother, I wasn't planning on coming in right now but _he_ insisted."

"Tell him thanks later." Lloyd staggered but straightened up, pulling out his twin swords, the blades glittered from the bright light, reflecting from it. The light bounced in multiple directions, some even blinded the men while others were absorbed by the wall. The eternal swordsmen twisted around to face the group but his attention was still on the watcher. "I hope you won't stop me."

"Don't worry, I won't. I have no care for such beings." Drang emotionlessly stated, a sword appearing in his hands. He was worse than Kratos when it came to showing his emotions, Lloyd decided, it was as if he didn't know _how_ to show them.

Mead came closer, pulling out the sword from his back and he was stared at Drang with hatred. "Are you the one that's been killing us?" He hadn't realized that Lloyd had a gleam in his eyes, glittering just like his swords.

Drang glanced over; he wasn't interested in such speaking and ignored it. He strolled away without even sending another fleeting look at the group where they all had murderous intents shining in their eyes. The white hair shifted lightly, strangely there was no wind in the room and he seemed so mysterious.

The other assassin jumped in front of the watcher, blocking the pathway, his whip was cracking on the metal floor. "Answer the question, you bastard!"

Lloyd smiled; his senses, though weakened, were coming back to half its original power. Lloyd licked his lips, he was a bit hungry and he was lusting for blood. He vanished from his spot while everyone's attention was stuck on the black-clocked man. Reappearing behind the group, he started muttering a spell under his breath, concentrating. A strong rush of power coursed through his body, the spell was working in reviving his abilities. He wanted to be at full power when fighting even if it was for a little while. Muttering another one right after, he went for the attack, the lines on his forehead appeared. He raised his left sword, up at his neck line, a malevolence aura surrounded him.

Drang twisted around, his black eyes running over the group then to Lloyd at the back of the room, the spell was almost complete. "I'm not the one that's been doing all the work. It's the person that's been playing innocent the whole time and he's right behind you."

It was too late for them to rotate; the spell had been completed and released. A dark portal appeared underneath their feet, trapping their movements. All of them started screaming, crying for help, but it was silenced by the thickness of the walls, luckily for Lloyd that this room wasn't like his own. Their bodies were sinking into the darkness, being dissolved into particles, blood seeping out from underneath it. He laughed, amused, it just looked funny to him. Like how they were struggling to live when their end had already arrived. Were all mortals like this, clinging so strongly to life? Lloyd giggled, of course they were, and they were willing to sacrifice anyone that got in their way just so they could breathe the next day. He squeezed his hands and the portal grew bigger, sucking them in faster, destroying their bodies in the process. Dust wrapped the room, swimming in circles and the red seeped into the clothes before being vaporized. The people clawed the normal floor beside them; scratches went down the metal as they were sinking deeper to their deaths, unable to get out. Lloyd watched greedily, he was having fun. Mead was the only one that had the strength and guts to gaze back, his eyes widening at the site. He couldn't believe it; the killer was right with him the whole time, playing the rightful act just to fool them all. Mead's eyes widened at the sick smirk, this couldn't be the same person that had rubbed his head so gently. It had to be someone else but somewhere in his heart, it was the same person. "Lloyd, you're the killer?! Why?"

The cruel smile grew larger on the guardian's lips, it became twisted; _it_ was back. "Why?" He started laughing, grinning like the devil himself. "Because you're all a bunch of _idiots_! Everyone _always_ suspect that'll be someone else that's killing everyone off, no one ever thinks about the _good_ guy. Sure, I might have saved this god forsaken world, all that heroic crap and bullshit about me but they're all lies! _Lies_! I never cared much for anything; I only did it because everyone asked me too! Sure, they might not have said it outright but they were _thinking_ it, it was so obvious."

"But you were everyone's hope! They all loved you!"

"That's a lie too. The hope was with the others, not me. No one would have noticed me if we didn't tell them that _I_ was the leader. They congratulated everyone else but not me, I was left out and alone. They thought I was too stupid to do anything brilliant then make mistakes. Genis and Raine, though half-elves, were smart beyond imagination, praised for their brains. Zelos and Colette for just being the chosen, Regal a CEO of the biggest company, Presea a crafter that makes those popular brooches in Meltokio, Sheena a chief of her village and lastly Kratos, who was a four thousand year old hero and I, _I_ was just the person that had the idea, but I'm not as important as the others. They all have reasons as to do it; they are _mightier_ than me. I got nothing out of this, not even a thank you." Lloyd stepped forward, right in front of Mead, who was trying to back away but he only succeed in sinking deeper into the portal. His skin was ripped off and his legs were gone turned to particles and liquid. The bones were grinded into sand and the Makura _didn't_ want to scream. A black mist was flowing from it, chocking their breaths for air and Drang just stood by, watching and listening in. The pain was doubled from the effect from the dark mist the Makuras breathed in and it rotted their lungs. Lloyd reached forward to the assassin, touching the shoulder, making the guy wince slightly.

"What are you going to do to me?" Mead's eyes were slightly wider than before, fear began welling up in them.

Lloyd grinned; this reaction was great, he wanted to see more of it. "Well kill you of course. Now that you know my identity, I can't allow you to live anymore." He brought his left sword, pointing it at Mead's stomach, the portal had already absorbed most of his body, more blood and particles flowed out. Lloyd leaned over, resting his head on his hand, breathing into the ear and pushed the blade forward. A grunt of agony came from the man, chocking on the blood that was coming up his throat. His flesh tore open, gruesome sounds came from the cut and blood squirted out from it but it missed Lloyd's clothes. The liquid oozed out of the mouth and Lloyd reached over with a free hand after putting the other blade away to let his fingers dab it. The cloth was instantly dyed a darker red and Lloyd retracted it, licking the blood. It was getting better and it wasn't as horrible as the last few he had tasted. He gazed down at the Makura and smiled. "Good-bye."

The guardian pulled the sword back, pushing Mead into the mist, the top portion that was left sunk in. The man was staring up with shock and had both hands outstretched as if hoping that someone would come and save him. The guy has finally realized that the once kind savior of the world was going to kill him. Why did the good guys always have to turn evil? People always questioned that but no one will ever know the answer. Lloyd chuckled, lifting up a foot and kicked the man further down into the pit, plummeting him so he no longer had to look. Glancing up at the others, he reached out, his right hand touching the air, grasping the particles and then snapped his fingers. Within seconds all of the bodies exploded, all except for Drang and himself. The flesh, bones, muscles, everything scattered into the air, and Lloyd noticed a flying head and laughed widening his arms to watch the destruction he had created. He would have loved to feel the warm fresh liquid but at this moment, he couldn't and cast a simple spell to cover him. Blood rained on the field, the portal vanished after eating the left-over bodies, spreading the puddle of blood larger. It even seeped into the metal side of the room giving it that glassy look. Lloyd's shoulders shook, he was stopping himself from laughing out loud again and examined his mess and found it a perfect piece of art. It was faultless and beautiful too, nothing was wrong with it except for Drang, who was standing in the middle, untouched by the blast. But that was okay, the dark clothes and appearance made him look like the reaper had done all the killing. The watcher didn't have anything on him, no blood as if the liquid at his feet wouldn't get close. He strolled forward, his feet floating right above the blood with ripples sent out at each step. The sword was dripped into the abyss, creating a long wavy line in the pool. The black tails flapped behind, the back of his feet kicking it slightly, pushing it up into the air. Lloyd noticed that the bottom of the shoes that the blood hadn't touched made him appear like Cloud in that way.

"We should split up, you take care of one side." Drang sauntered pass him, heading to the door, the sword in his hand was screeching against the floor.

The man went through the door, the tails were the last thing to disappear, and then came an eerie silence, then screams. Lloyd sneaked a glance at the spot, the party had just started, a plot that he was made for.

'I don't believe it.'

Lloyd glanced around, was that Cloud who spoke? "What do you mean?"

The dirty blond-haired man appeared next to the teenager, the cloak was half gone now. "That man, he's not someone you'd want to be against. I don't think you know him yet. His name is Drang Metamorcy, he's the strongest of the creators. The powers you have are from the third." Cloud floated down, his feet, not that he had any, was hanging above the floor. "Its best to keep someone like him on your side."

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind." Lloyd stated, strolling forward, he wanted to get started on the killing before Drang exterminated them all by himself. "We're about to do a large blow to the organization, too bad from them, and too bad that Cyran wasn't here to fight me. I really wanted to try him."

He ran out the door, his eyes going side to side trying to find out which way was which. Lloyd knew he didn't know the area well, perhaps not at all. He had no choice but to rely on the life force admitting from the numerous people in the building to guide him.

He could feel many of them disappearing, someone, most likely Drang, was annihilating them and by the hundreds. His eyes turned glowing red like wine or blood that swirled in a glass cup, it looked normal for him, all matching with his clothes and the reddish brown hair. His father had red eyes so was it so unusual for him to have it too? Some people did, they found red eyes scary like they were peering into some kind of demon's eyes. Lloyd ran to the left, locating where the first victim would be and entered the door to the right. He instantly ducked upon opening as a bullet flew over his head and slammed into the wall right behind. A small deep dent was made and the metal bullet fell to the floor, the sound rattled down the hallway, echoing. The guardian leaned back up, straightening his stance, staring coldly at the soldier that had tried to shoot him in the head. His eyes ran over the weapon, it was gun, not one of those old ones that were rarely seen but a brand new one. It had a different design too, something that would be seen in a different time or world, not here where everything was still on boats and legs.

"It seems you people can travel through dimensions and time." That was the only explanation for this specific weapon since the people on the planet haven't even created this type of technology. The man trembled; his shot had missed by a landslide and the stare he was getting made his skin crawl. Lloyd rushed forward, his right blade drawn out during the attack and slashed the throat before the man could react and fire again. The sword hacked through the bones and even slit the metal behind the man. A few orange colored sparks came from the friction, most vanished before it could start a fire. It flicked the red liquid across the room, decorating the plain walls. Blood splattered onto his skin and he could feel it drip down his cheek, all nice and warm. Luckily for him, none got on his clothes, but if it had, his mood might have changed. It would be difficult to get another pair of clothes that looked exactly like these. Some more splashed onto the wall behind when the gash burst open, flowing down in thin lines and others got onto the furniture, staining it. The body fell back, the man twitched slightly before going still, the liquid oozing out from the cut. A pool formed around the body, seeping into the clothes, spreading out and wide, coloring everything it touched. The eyes were open, blank and dead, but the shocked expression had remained. The guardian of death kicked the body; it budged, pushing it aside.

Lloyd reached down and yanked the gun out, looking over it to make sure it was still in good condition. Pulling the ammo carton down, he checked it, counted the bullets and loaded it back, his fingers tracing over the frame. His red eyes caught sight a small box that had more ammo in it and Lloyd snatched it for a better use since it was just sitting there collecting dust. Swords were great for single opponents and close range attacks but he might not have enough time to react if too many came along and he was limited in strength too. Plus, he didn't need his new cloths getting dirty again. "Alright now we've got a bash."

The grin was still there as he sheathed the sword, took the gun letting it hang limply at his side and strolled back out. As he reached the doorway, he lifted it back, pointing it behind him. He pulled the trigger and the bullet smashed into the forehead of the dead man, right between the eyes. The head flipped back, slamming into the metal and rolled to the side. A shuffle came from outside of the room, claiming the eternal swordsmen's attention.

Lloyd's smirk grew bigger. There was a large company waiting for him just outside the door on the right side of the hallway. He had felt them running towards this spot from the ricochet of the bullet, growing in a large number to face him. The more there are, the better the fun. The eternal swordsmen turned slowly, the white shallow tails twirling at the movement, eyeing the group at the doorway and giggled lightly. Many of them were lined up; some were crowded together in bundles. He lifted up the gun, pointing it blindly and sprayed the bullets endlessly at them. There was no need to target, they were all in one spot, even if he missed one, it would get another. Many of them fell instantly, some dead, others wounded there were even some that dodged, backing away from the frightful teenager. The company fired back with their own guns but the bullets bounced off of some invisible force field that surrounded the death guardian. More blood shot out from the holes in the men, squirting everywhere, bodies flying backwards into others. Some of the soldiers screamed as their teammate's blood got on them and many fell to the floor, tranquilized. The Makuras struggled back, desperate but none of their attacks seemed to hit him and he strolled forward as if nothing was wrong, that everything was perfectly fine. Some retreated, dropping their weapons and abandoning their allies while others tried to stop the guardian from coming any closer.

"This guy can't be human!" One of them screamed, crawling back to a safer position, Lloyd heard him and he twitched in anger.

The other assassin added fuel to Lloyd's raging fire, spitting the taboo words into his face. "He must be some kind of _monster_, there's no way he could be surviving this. We can't even hit him, what kind of person can do that?!"

At first nothing happened, Lloyd halted, clenching his fists and stared cruelly at the men. Those two suddenly started choking, holding their chest where the heart resided. The spray of bullets paused, the men glanced back at the two, eyes widening in fear. The fingers squeezed the chest with the fingernails scratching the skin. Blood oozed out of the ears, eyes sockets, nose and even the mouth, coming out in large amounts, looking extremely painful. The whole face was drenched with the red liquid, the copper smell filling up the hallway. The air tensed and quieted down; dread was slowly welling up in the silence. The two grunted and fell, flapping their bodies around like a fish out of water, blood soaked eyes staring up at the ceiling. Blood drooled out and spitted out to the side, the eyes were losing its color. Lloyd started laughing, breaking the silence between them, horror stricken was written on the men's' faces.

"Don't you dare call me a monster. I'm not very tolerant of that." His feet shifted forward, he was no longer in a good mood, his enjoyment wiped away. Those words were forbidden to say in front of him, he hated it, no _despised_ it and killed anyone that dared speak them and now everyone in this hallway knows his ability. The two men went limp, everything drained out o them and remained still, the heartbeats that had filled the room stopped. A short snort from Lloyd made the soldiers flinch; a few of them took a step back at the strange expression. The teenager's shoulders were shaking; the head was leaned down to the floor. As it came back up, a dark shadow covered the eyes but the grin hadn't so much as left. "Now, you can all die!"

Lloyd dropped the gun and ripped out both swords, one covered in blood from the previous kill. It reflected the evil gleam in his eye, reacting forward with blood lust. The first person that was in his way, a poor fool who was in the front of the group got his head chopped clean off. Fountains of blood exploded from the neck, spraying the people next to him and froze them in terror. The head rolled off, landing into someone's lap who screamed in fright and tossed it off. It swayed to the other side until it came to a complete stop right in the middle. The men backed up to the metal wall, eyes staring in fear at the teenager who seemed to resemble a demon. Most of them couldn't find the strength to run away anymore and just stand there like a sitting duck. Lloyd laughed, his mood was coming back to him, it felt great and he had hardly gotten any blood on him. He attacked again, splitting a guy in half from head to thigh grinning at the falling form and kicked the head that as nearby, letting it bounce on the walls, hitting a running soldier at the back of the neck. The man was knocked down from the sudden force, hitting head first into the floor, there was a sickening crack that echoed. He had broken the fool's skull, a thin line of red seeped out from underneath. This was all too amusing, watching these humans run for their life and fail in the process. It was so common to him that this act was boring but that could be fixed.

"Hell's gate!" Two blades appeared behind him and rushed forward, the group was annihilated instantly with their bodies torn apart from the middle. Each piece went flying in opposite directions coloring the wall a deeper hue than before. Some parts crashed into each other, mingling their own blood together and fell silently to the ground. The screams were silenced by the tearing of flesh and the splattering of the corpses. Blood flowed down, reaching his feet, swirling around it. He twirled his swords in a circle, the sharp ends cutting through the thick air. The life's liquid he stepped into splashed onto the clothes of the corpses. "Not even worth the trouble." Sauntering forward, he suppressed a yawn that was making its way up his throat and as he passed the numerous corpses, he coughed. He coughed again, much harder and cursed himself, he was still sick. Lloyd snuggled into his clothes, he was starting to feel cold again and an icy mist appeared in front of his face. 'Damn, used too much energy for this state, better conserve.' As much as Lloyd would like to continue this fun and game, it was something he couldn't. Taking the gun again, he reloaded it back up and snatched one of the other's guns, a TMP this time. Guess he had no chose but to rely on these for the mean time but that didn't mean he couldn't kill. He grinned at the idea, yes, killing was indeed fun. Lloyd walked down the hallway, slaughtering anyone that got into his sight, he never missed, not even one. One guy decided to make a drop in, quite literally. He had jumped down from the air vent and landed right behind Lloyd's defenses. Lloyd grunted, he hadn't been expecting this to happen and twisted around trying to catch the man but it was too late. The sword was already rushing at his chest and had to use his special ability.

"Death Sentence!"

Before the killer managed to make a hit, the hand exploded, the sword flew aside and then the head followed right after. He reached up covering his face and eyes from the onslaught of liquid, trying to protect his vision. Lloyd sighed, that was close but now he was all dirty with blood again. It had splattered onto his clothes and hair, drenching him like it was water, spreading out from one spot. Droplets fell off his strands, he needed to take a bath now, he couldn't go home looking like this. Things were beginning to look bad, the murderous intent was getting stronger and he didn't know how long it would be before he lost control of _it_. A heavy flop came next as the body fell and he raised a hand, running his gloved fingers through his blood soaked hair, thinning out the wetness. He had to hurry to the entrance, he was starting to weaken from the magic use but that didn't mean he could terminate others along the way. He outstretched his arms, shooting bullets each pathway without even glancing down; his mind already knew where everyone was at.

Lloyd suddenly stopped, his boots sliding across the floor, something was coming and fast. It was powerful but it wasn't from Drang or even that leader, Cyran, it was someone different. He tried to locate the direction but it seemed the thing was going through the walls. The ground rumbled, a large blue flash cut through the metal of the building, passing so fast that Lloyd was only able to catch the color. It continued on for a few feet than vanished in little blue particles that looked familiarly like fireflies. "What the?" He kneeled down, staring over down at the damage it had done, there was something in the gash it had created. He pulled out his glove on the right hand and reached out into the liquid. It was cool and wet and had that clean pure feeling radiating from it. "Water?"

"Holy water to be exact." A cheery voice came from behind along with a tap on his shoulder. Lloyd flinched, instantly jumping up to his feet and twisted around glancing at the man. He recognized the white hair and black eyes instantly and sighed in relief, he had been worried that it might have been one of those assassins. "What the hell, Drang? I thought you were killing the others? Did you finish?"

It wasn't until a split second later that Lloyd noticed something peculiar about this man. He was dressed differently, instead of the pitch black coat, the man was wearing a light blue-green jacket with a comfortable green shirt. There was a smile on the face, something Drang never had and it seemed weird to suddenly see it. The guy was the opposite of the watcher and could the guy actually change his clothes that fast? Something clicked; perhaps this was the other person Lloyd had mixed up. He spoke unsurely, squinting the left eyes, staring in hope. "Cradle?"

"Bingo, you got it right." Cradle grinned brightly. He was the same height as Lloyd and seemed to glow with energy. His black eyes turned to the being behind the guardian and waved a hand. "Long times no see Cloud, how long has it been since we've last meet?"

Cloud made him self visible, drifting down to the white'haired man's level. There was a softer aura surrounding the cloaked man, Lloyd could tell that they were familiar with each other. The former guardian grinned, floating right between the two. "Over two thousand years, I believe."

"Not since that last meeting and your death, correct?"

Lloyd tried to follow, these people were talking like old friends but he could tell that they were only acquaintances, friendly ones and nothing more. The red eyes stared at Cradle carefully, calculating out something inside his head.

"I almost didn't recognize you with Drang and all." Cloud didn't show any expression but he was a whole lot better than the other man. The black cloak flapped to nothing, the limbs just drifting along.

Cradle smiled, nervously laughing, rubbing the back of his head, Lloyd noticed for one second that the white-haired man had glanced over to his direction. The death guardian grimaced, edging away, his eyes trapped gazing into the black orbs but Cradle's attention was at Cloud. Lloyd turned away, staring at the floor, trying not to look back up into those eyes. "That seems to happen a lot, people always mix us up when it comes to looks; the only way to tell us apart is by our attitudes. Honestly I think brother is a bit too cold if you know what I mean, not that I blame him though."

Lloyd snapped his head up, it cracked loudly from the hasty movement but it wasn't terrible. "What do you mean? Does Drang have a horrible secret?"

"My, don't you seem interested, looking for blackmail?" Cradle teased, leaning closer to the guardian's face that was shaking his head as a reply. The bright smile softened, it was now depressed and tired like how an old man who look like when reaching death. "There's nothing you need to know about him, Lloyd. People have secrets so do you and there is a time when you can not tell. I think you should be more worried about those friends of yours than our affairs, since one day there might be a chance that your abilities will be reveal maybe in the most unlikely situation so be careful. You must also think logically and emotionally, don't think that killing your friends will make all your troubles away. Doing so would just make things ten times as worse so think before you act or you might have to do something drastic in order to fix everything, okay? Plus, you don't want to be alone, you need people to be around you, it tells you that you're still alive and breathing." Cradle tried to cheer the mood back up, flicking Lloyd at the nose, snapping the guardian back into reality.

"Brother, you should stop." The voice came directly from behind Cradle, the man's arms folded neatly across his chest. The older one twisted around by reflex, both arms reaching out and wrapped them around the left arm, holding dearly. Lloyd carefully watched Drang but he didn't even twitch from the quick movement and just took it.

Cradle laughed heartily, temporarily ripping himself from the grip and then goes back to jump his brother. He was rubbing his cheek at the neck, squeezing tighter and Drang still seemed unaffected. Though he took it in, he didn't return it but Cradle didn't seem phrased by it but took the hint. "Alright I'll stop," The older brother paused for a quick moment thinking about something then replied with "Only if you hug me back." Drang hesitated but did as told, though the hug had no emotion in it but it was sill a hug. The older brother pulled out, leaning over to put a quick peak on the cheek before twisting around to run off. The younger one stayed behind, the black eyes staring out of space, he already knew that this was going to happen. Lloyd flinched the second the eyes rested on him, he could feel a powerful force holding him down.

"I'm sorry." Drang spoke, his lips hardly shifting. Lloyd blinked, why was _he_ apologizing? Did he do something wrong? "It seems a few of the assassins has escaped through a secret passage, I tried to follow them but there were too many to catch. Plus my older brother wasn't exactly doing his job. I don't think any of them know the killer is you though."

"I see well that's okay." The coldness was coming back into his body again, he shivered. Perhaps the medicine was wearing off or it was just coming back, he didn't know. Drang noticed that and stepped forward, his hand reaching out and tapped the top of the head. Lloyd felt something rush at him from the touch, a spell perhaps, and collapsed forward. He landed limply into Drang's right arm, the brown locks of hair tickling the side of his face, the cold sense of the coat seeping into his skin. He felt warm again, the feel of the flesh and skin against his own. The red eyes faded away, glancing up at the calm collected face before blacking out.

* * *

(Ah, yes another one.)

Lloyd opened his eyes, ah, yes, he remembered this place. It was at that time they had gone back to the water seal to get the summoning sprit Undine, well afterwards. This was an old memory, just as they passed the Hakonesia Peak, he had collapsed, not from the cold but heat. He remembered feeling all warm and sweaty like he was burning from the inside. At that time he had gotten hyperthermia and Raine tried to nurse him back to normal health, _keywords tired_, the green chicken noodle soup didn't exactly look appetizing. During his sickness, Lloyd had thought that the professor was actually trying to kill him instead of helping. He could see Sheena close by with Colette and Genis at her side and Kratos was at the back corner of the room sulking as always. Glancing to the side, Raine's face was close up, he could see the wrinkles that had been created from the worry for her student.

"Lloyd, how do you feel?" She asked tenderly, using white magic to soother any pain that might have been created.

"Fine, it's just a tad bit hot in here." He gave a smile, trying to brighten up the situation. Some relief appeared, Genis sighed out loud and Colette smiled. Sitting up, he took in his surroundings, examining the room. "So where are we?"

"In Asgard, you gave us quite a shock, fainting like that in the middle of nowhere. For a moment, I thought you had gotten heat stroke or something, that might have been dangerous at that moment. Kratos had to carry you to an inn, luckily, we were close by to this town." Raine reached out, taking the cold towel away from the forehead, she dipped it into a bucket that was filled with ice water and squeezed it tightly. "A doctor has already taken a look at you. You'll be fine just as long as you get some more rest and drink cold liquids to get rid of the temperature. The hyperthermia was at the first stage so it was easier to cure than if it had gone to the second stage." She folded the towel neatly and placed it back to its original spot after Lloyd leaned back down.

"Oh, thanks and sorry for the trouble." The guardian nervously laughed, he could tell that the tension in the air was weighting heavily on everyone. The wind outside beat against the window, whispering like voice, everyone flinched at it except for Kratos who continued to remain in the back. A moment later, sounds of boots stomping on the wooden ground caught everyone's attention, Kratos was sauntering forward. He had his hand on his waist, cold red eyes calmly staring at Lloyd who hadn't wince the glare.

"Why didn't you tell us you were sick earlier?" He had a demanding tone in his voice and still glared with the stoic expression.

Lloyd tilted his head and blinked a few times, unclenched by the mercenary's attitude. "I didn't know I _was_ even sick until the professor told me." It was an honest answer, he really hadn't noticed with all that walking and fighting. "I didn't feel anything so I was a bit shock to find out."

"You mean you didn't _know_ you were sick." The red head raised an eyebrow not entirely believing the story, it seem fake.

"Yeah, that's right."

"Kratos." Raine's voice cut through, snatching the man's attention away. "This isn't uncommon for Lloyd, he always been like this. No one knows the answer as to why he gets like this but it happened so often when he was younger, sometimes he couldn't go out for weeks. Lloyd would come down with either hyperthermia or hypothermia; it was always between those two. Usually it's in the first stages, rarely the next, sometimes it happened right out of the blue with no warnings like today's one."

"So this has happened before?"

"Yes, many times."

"I see then I apologize." Kratos relaxed, taking the pressure off the teenager.

Lloyd sighed, everything seemed peaceful for now. He could tell that the red head was concern but he didn't show it so Lloyd ignored the thing. The guardian glanced back at the mercenary; the feeling was back, the one where the older man was hiding something, deep and angst. He shook his head, he didn't want to ask anything and shifted from his spot. The pillow was soft and squishy not like when he would lay on Noishe outside on the grass. The brown eyes stared up at the ceiling, avoiding all eye contact, concentrating on the black spot on the tile. A branch scratched up against the glass window, a strong gust pushing the tree wildly. Lloyd flinched at the sound, goose bumps crawling down his skin and made him shiver. The squeaky scratch echoed through the silent room, it was a horrible sound but Kratos didn't seem affected by it. Everyone backed away, heading back to their beds or distances so they wouldn't disturb the sick teenager. Lloyd quietly laughed to himself and smiled, raising an arm up to cover his eyes. It had happened again, oh well, nothing new to him. It's like taking a break from the journey and _the perfect excuse to go out and kill the people that were following them._

* * *

"Lloyd! Lloyd, wake up!"

The guardian winced, the voice was loud and his body shook uncontrollably but it wasn't from the cold. He opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling above and the shaking had stopped instantly. Turning over to his side, he could see all the stares that were in his direction, numerous of them, almost nine in all or was it more?

Kratos was the closest with a relieved smile on his face, his son was okay. Mostly everyone was sitting in chairs, surrounding the eternal swordsmen, Regal and Presea were the only ones that were still standing. The seraphim leaned in with his head tilted and the red bangs fell over to cover the right eye. "Lloyd, you're awake."

"Hey, _dad_." Lloyd gave a smile; his face was soft and tired, showing his strain. A hand pulled back from his forehead, another voice, he didn't recognize this one, entered.

"It seems like he'll be fine, whatever that group did to him was actually helpful, it seems to work wonders compared to my treatment."

Lloyd glanced over and up, it was the doctor from Flanoir, the group must have gotten him to come here. He groaned, sitting up, his eyes managing to caught the sighting of an open window. It was wide open, the curtains on each side were fluttering to the wind, and the cold air had already filled up the room. His mind was wandering back to what had happened; he had gotten knocked out by Drang so how did he get back here? He muttered out the words before he could fully take in the situation. "What happened?"

Kratos blinked, why would Lloyd be asking such a question unless they did something to him. "You don't remember?"

"Remember what? All I know is that some guy popped out of nowhere and knocked me out cold." Lloyd lied but he really didn't remember about how he got back to the inn.

"A man with white hair and dressed in black carried you here. It was quite sudden though; he jumped through the open window, dropped you on the bed and ran out before any of us could get a word out." Kratos sighed, crossing his legs and held his head up by the hand. The conversation was getting no where, either of them could figure out what to say. The red head glanced back with a smile; a single word had been edged into his mind and was glad for that. "You called me 'dad'."

A bit of the tension in the room lifted up, Lloyd grinned happily that the conversation had been steered away. "So what? You are my dad you know."

"Yeah but you never called me that except for those two times, when I was attacked and as I was leaving this planet." The seraph was happy, more so than when Lloyd returned to him.

"Well I've got two dads; it'll get too confusing to call you both the same."

Genis went to the other side of the bed as the doctor backed up, talking to Regal about the payment. The half-elf grinned and scratched the bottom of his nose, he was glad that everything was okay. "At least you're back."

Yuan, who was in the back, eyed Lloyd vigilantly, there was something suspicious about the teenager right now. He strolled forward, his eyes narrowed and reached out, fingering through the brown locks. Everyone stared at him strangely, Yuan ignored it, digging through the hair. The color was off. He retracted his hand only to fine his gloves and fingers dyed red, and some was still fresh. "Lloyd, how come you have _blood_ in your hair?"

The guardian instantly reached up, running his fingers through it. It was still wet and twisted his top portion of his body checking the sheets. There was blood on the pillow even on his neck. Lloyd yanked at his clothes, wondering if there was any on him from before, none. Had Drang changed him before giving him back? Lloyd twitched at the image, he didn't want to know, and there was something more important at hand.

"Lloyd?" Raine asked cautiously, her staff was at her side, wondering if it was a wound or something. She had calmed down from her rage especially after hearing Lloyd's kidnapping. The punishment would have to come later after she knew for a fact that the boy was in good shape. "Does it hurt anywhere?"

"No, not really." Lloyd stared at his red fingers as a feeling was welling up inside his mind. He had to get rid of the evidence and fast, there was no telling how he'd react when in front of blood. Glancing up, he had everyone's attention, all eyes were on him. "I'm going to take a bath and clean it off." His feet swung over the side of the bed and stood up, he wasn't wobbling any more. The extra weight on his waist was gone, he glimpsed downward, his twin blades weren't there, neither were his shoes. He felt a bit nake, he always wore everything at all times of the day. Taking a step forward, he noticed that his stuff was on a chair, neatly placed, most likely done by Colette.

Zelos stepped in front of him, his left arm on the sword handle but it wasn't threatening. "Hey aren't you going to tell us what happened while you were there?"

"Let me take a bath first, and then I will. I need some time to recollect my memories. Sorry." The eternal swordsmen headed out the door, a shadow was falling over his face and he had to escape before _it_ took him over. Taking a deep breath, he tried regulating himself, his head was still spinning and groaned. Each step forward there was another, for every pair there was another, there was someone behind him and yet when he glanced behind, there was no one. He could smell it creeping up from behind, trying to change him again. His eyes were changing, flickering between the two colors. Heading down the stairs, his brownish-red pools caught a glimpse of a drunk running around, drooling beer from the mouth. The bartender was trying to stop him but it was futile. The drunk even went to stealing others drinks and tossed it around. It splattered across the table, floors and people that were near by or unlucky to get into the crossfire. Some almost hit Lloyd but he sidestepped it, letting the beer hit the guy behind. He grumbled, he was already smeared with blood, he didn't need alcohol to add to it. Lloyd's eyes narrowed, it started to glow brightly, the drunk stopped for the next moment, holding his heart. He started choking heavily like he was coughing up a lung and fell to the floor. The people surrounding him rushed forward, trying to help the poor guy breath. The doctor from upstairs heard the commotion and came running down, the second he saw the group, the man hurried to the fallen person. Lloyd hid in the darkness of the hallway as his friends had come down too, watching carefully. He didn't want to be noticed. The doctor kneeled down, examining over the man with a stern expression in his eyes.

"This man had a heart attack." He reached forward, touching the neck and searched for a pulse. There was none and there was no hope in reviving this person, the doctor pulled back in dismay. "He's dead."

Lloyd didn't stay any longer; he was already making his way down to the bathes. The smile appeared, one of the rooms that were open showed two people, a man and a woman. He glanced inside and laughed, the two were stripping and Lloyd could tell by first glance that it was sex. How shameful of them to leave the door wide open, did they want people to see them having intercourse? His right eye twitched and his fists squeezed together in rage, the two fell forward without a sound onto the bed. They were not moving and had chocks for air coming from underneath, their hands flailing around, wanting to get oxygen into their lungs. But none would go in, the pipe had been closed shut and they were suffocating. Lloyd had used the same spell as he did on the drunk except he told them to die differently so he wouldn't be traced. His fingers gripped the doorknob, and closed it silently with a click. His feet went back on track, heading to the last door and opened it, the stream meeting him, a drop of red fell from his bangs and onto the floor. It splattered, a little bit of it hit the door and dripped down. The grin hadn't so much as left and the door closed behind him.

* * *

Alright now I must work on chapter 7, man this is the longest fanfic I've ever done. And I'm running out of ideas too, how bad could that be? AH! Is it me or is each chapter getting longer every time?! And its 3:00 in the morning, going to bed now. Any mistakes, blame the lack of sleep.


	7. Room of Nightmares

**Black Terror**

**By: Metamorcy**

Disclaimer: Don't own anything and never will. Drang and Cradle belongs to me though, they're my made up people.

Now if everyone that's been keeping up with me, you'll be happy with this one. I liked it. Oh and please review, I always forget to add that.

**6/04/09 this had been edited for spelling**

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Chapter 7: Room of Nightmares

He knew it was happening again.

He just knew it in the pit of his stomach and heart.

It was true that he couldn't tell the difference between the two. There was no way he would be able to determine if this was just a dream, a regular dream turned into a horrifying nightmare that could be woken up from at any time _or_ was it reality? It didn't matter to him anymore, they were all the same, the same thing each and every time and he was growing tired of them.

Another group of his friends lay before him, lifeless and cold. He didn't feel any pain or hurt just by watching, it was like he allowed this to happen from inside his heart. But was this really a nightmare or a safe haven, away from reality and the fighting? Lloyd didn't know what was right anymore, he just had the desire to kill, nothing but that. His friends, the ones that were sleeping in front of him, had been killed brutally in every possible way, probably from those who wanted get revenge after what he and Drang had done back at the base. Of course, they didn't know that _he_ was the main killer, the one seeking out their blood and annihilating them one by one. He had his fill in fun, but it was turning into a bore. As he turned to rid his eyes of this activity, he heard a faint heartbeat. It wasn't his own that was beating so weakly, fading at each second. Lloyd listened to it, it was growing thin, and the blood that should be flowing through the vessels was slowing down. Scanning the corpses for one living person who was still breathing, he noticed a chest heaving up and down quickly. The place was dark; the only light was from the window and the moon, everything else was covered in the blackness of the night. His feet moved closer before he could recognize that the person was lying directly in the moonlight. The golden blond hair, scattered among the floor was still shining brightly in the pale light and it was the only thing left that wasn't dyed red.

The guardian stopped in front of his childhood friend, her eyes were opened slightly, the innocent blue hue shimmering through the lids. They were glassy. Colette could no longer see what was above her and probably couldn't hear either. Her chest continued to rise and fall, quickening when needed, she was fading out and was taking her last breaths. Blood was dripping out of her mouth, spitting it out when she found the strength to move. The brown pools drifted to the side where the two siblings slept peacefully, never to wake up again. It was the Sages, both of them, bitter and dead too. The older sister, Raine, had a knife stabbed through her throat most likely thrown from the size of the wound. Lloyd's eyes trailed it, the knife had been pushed down, and the throat splitting open into one long puncture, the insides could be seen. The blood had been drained out, the color of the esophagus unidentifiable and the spinal cord poked out from behind. Her eyes were wide open, shock written all over her lifeless face. She was probably the second one to die by the looks of it, and had watched the younger Sage be destroyed right before her eyes.

The room smelled horribly, a scent that reeked of bereavement, a thing the guardian of death was used to. He turned to the younger Sage, Genis, he was almost unrecognizable. The boy had been torn apart as if an animal had taken the liberty of ripping the child to pieces just like he had done to the assassin that had attacked Yuan. His stomach had been ripped open, the organs yanked out, some still looked fresh. Blood covered the entire body, the neck had been slice apart, the head rolled off and then kicked back into place. The once white and pure hair was now red like the inside of the hole. He noticed that the eyes were crossed; the man must have attacked forward, right in front of the face. Lloyd examined closer, Genis had died before the process had even started; he got off lucky. The assassin Lloyd had meet at the base was still alive the whole time, each scream and cry influenced Lloyd to rip, tear and remove each bone, organ, and limb. It had been fun while it lasted.

There was a low sob coming from the ex-chosen but there were no tears to fall, she had no fluids left in her teenage body to shred. Lloyd sighed, he _wanted_ to end her misery, he didn't know why but he just did and quickly. As he pulled out one of his swords, he observed the blond girl. She had been stabbed at the stomach area, the same place for him when he was attacked except she was left to bleed on the ground. It was already too late to save her even if this _was_ just a dream; there was no way he could save her dying soul. He rushed the blade into her ragged body, letting it mingle with her pouring blood at the chest, at the heart. Closing his eyes, the breathing stopped instantly and the heartbeats were gone. The room had gone silent; not even the cricking of the bugs outside dared to make a single sound. The wind was quiet as well; the trees couldn't be heard rustling even the people downstairs was quiet, no loud noises coming through the cracks. Lloyd glanced outside to the window, there were a few shadows outside but he didn't bother in chasing them down. He could do that in reality before any of this could really happen. His eyes manage to catch a glimpse of one; he could see the golden hair and weapons that were lined up at the waist. Lloyd could tell that that person was the one that had done the job; he could smell the blood radiating from him. Pulling the blade out, it was drenched with her life, dripping off the tip. He flipped it to the side; the thick liquid was forcefully tossed off, marking the wall instead. The sharp end ran over his fingers, they were bare and still had a light blue hue in the finger tips and nails. For some odd reason, he didn't know why but he squeezed his right hand on the blade, a sharp flash of pain came. He pushed harder until he could feel the sword digging into his flesh. The stinging ache didn't bother him; he was used to this kind of thing. Droplets of blood dripped down the arm and as it touched the floor, it seemed to sizzle. His blood still had the poison in it, he outstretched it, flicked his hand roughly. The liquid splattered on the window, the glass shattered instantly, the red dripping downward. The shards reflected the moonlight, sending it everywhere in the room, lighting up those dark spots. It fell to the ground loudly, breaking into numerous pieces and scattered along the wooden planks. Some of the pieces stick up, pierced into the wood, a few shards was still hanging onto the frame.

A sudden feeling came as he glanced over to the three bodies, a humorous laughter crawled up his throat and he couldn't stop it. He snorted at first, trying to suppress it but it seemed unstoppable. His shoulders shook uncontrollably, throwing his head back in amusement. It escaped his lips, raising his sword into the air high above his head. As it went down, the twisted grin grew larger, it seemed hilarious to him. All the mortals in his little group were pathetic, all of them relying on him to live, no, he was _allowing_ them to live. He could have let them all die, every single one of them, it might have been fun to watch. The sword came down, piercing into Colette's body. He stabbed it multiple times and butchered the body until it was no longer identifiable. Pierces of flesh was torn off, more blood ran underneath the body and white showed up from inside. Some of the liquid seeped into the cracks of the planks, leaking into the next room below. He continued on, ripping apart anything that was still there, laughing at each movement. He attacked the limbs, sawing them off until the vessels in them exploded. Squashing sounds came out from each stab, blood splattering from the wounds, holes appearing underneath the body. The corpse just remained there, bouncing up and down at each plunge and he broke the ribs with the fast movement. It seemed great and pleasurable and he couldn't stop himself any longer. He was losing it, _it_ was a lost cause; he could no longer suppress his other self, no, that wasn't right, he was him, mind and body. Lloyd paused for a moment, examining the corpse. His breathing was deep as if he was exhausted but he wasn't. Blood pooled around the body growing bigger each second, his bare feet was drenched in it. It circled around him and flowed downward to the other carcasses. More liquid flowed down the boards, through the cracks, disappearing inside. Lloyd stood back up straight; he started crackling again, dropping his sword to the floor, snapping the wooden planks. The moonlight was dyed red with his blood, everything seemed so perfect to him. Lloyd glanced over to the Sages, they sat there silently; _tears_ seemed to be streaming out of their dead eyes.

"Oh, that's right, I almost forgot." Lloyd muttered heading closer to Raine. "Even if the body dies, the brain is still alive. How _interesting_. I always wanted to dissect a real live being." Lloyd neared closer and he summoned a small knife into his right hand. This wasn't a regular blade though; he had gotten this along time ago when a doctor had passed the village. It was special, used to cut through bodies with a thin line, mostly used by surgeons and doctors. He had also utilized it on the man that had attacked Yuan, Nike was it. As the blade neared the skull, a flicker passed through the world around him and he paused. "Damn, seems like someone is trying to wake me up." His brown eyes glared at the silver-haired corpse. "Looks like you got off lucky, oh well, I can always do it in real life." He started laughing again, gripping the scalpel in his fingers; the place was quiet as he listened.

* * *

The guardian opened his eyes to see the long red hair plummeting over his face. It tickled him, making his face scrunch up in an attempt to get away. He reached up with his left hand, pushing the red head away so he could get some air and distance between them. "Zelos?"

"Lloyd!" There was a look of happiness as he noticed the stare. Zelos smiled brilliantly and leaned back up, his hands on his waist. "I'm so glad I got you to wake up, I was so worried about you."

Lloyd blinked, suppressing a yawn. "Worried?"

"Yeah, you wouldn't wake up no matter what I did and it kinda scared me. I was about to go and call Raine when you finally decide to open your eyes. You know even after that kidnapping I was really troubled they might have done something to you."

Lloyd sat up, taking another half-hearted glanced at Zelos; he didn't seem interested in the situation. It's been two days since his return from 'The Dark Heavens', everything had been spoken about, not that Lloyd told them much of anything. He only said about certain things like how some of the people looked like, other than that, he said he couldn't remember anything else. "I see thanks." He gazed down to the blankets, both arms hidden underneath the covers. Kratos had decided to give up his bed to Lloyd since he didn't want his own son to sleep on the couch while he was still in his state. Sunlight gleamed through the open window; it was morning, late morning actually with the people already up and about. Voices came through the glass as well as downstairs but Lloyd ignored it, he didn't care much for it.

"No problem, bud! Everyone is downstairs, if you feel good enough to get up then do so." Zelos didn't take notice of the dark shadow that was forming on the guardian's face and twisted around. The hair twirled, flapping side to side, a hand up beside his head, waving behind. "Well then, get well."

The door slammed shut, Lloyd didn't budge from his spot until he was sure that no one would notice. He pulled his right hand out with the scalpel was in it, glittering with the sunlight, reflecting off the metal. The light scored a hit on the wall and it shifted when the angle did. Turning the blade, he examined it, running his hand over it. His fingers were bare and he could feel the coolness of the metal brush against his skin, a sharp pain filled his senses. By instinct, he jerked back, cutting himself with it and watched as small droplets of blood fell down. He didn't want any to get on the sheets and decided he licked his own blood off his fingers, making sure that none of the evidence was left behind. His tongue went over the cut he had inflicted on himself, a sting made him draw back again. Licking his lips, he wiped away any leftover blood traces and even licked the knife. The wound he had inflicted to himself was healing at a tremendous speed and the slash was evaporating into flesh. Once it was clean, the knife was thrown away, smashing itself into the door, the exact place where Zelos' head would have been if he had thrown it earlier. The sharp end bashed through the board until it stopped, no longer able to continue forward. Lloyd grumbled, it was getting harder to stop himself from killing; he had actually _wanted_ to kill Zelos. It was getting too dangerous to be around them now. He squeezed his hands into separate fists and grinded his teeth together. The knife stabbed into the door dissipated into dust and blew away towards the open window and vanished. The curtain that was beside the glass was fluttering whenever the wind blew strongly. Lloyd flopped back down onto the bed with his fingers gripping the pillow, pushing it closer to his face.

A knock at the door made him tense, someone else was coming in. "Lloyd, it's me, Kratos, can I come in?"

What was he suppose to say? That Kratos couldn't come in without getting himself killed? He couldn't do that, Lloyd squeezed harder. The eternal swordsmen moaned quietly, he would just have to control himself a while longer until everything could be fixed. "Sure go ahead, it's your room anyway."

Kratos entered, the visible eye stared coolly towards his son. "You're still in bed? Didn't Zelos come to wake you up?"

"He did but I didn't feel like it." Closing his eyes, he hoped that nothing bad would happen, he hoped that Kratos would leave soon. Lloyd continued to lay down, burying his face into the pillow. The seraphim sat beside him on the bed and reached over to feel the forehead for the temperature though he had to search for that. The other hand went up to Lloyd's left one, trying to comfort the teenager.

"It seems you're gotten warmer, it won't be long before you're back to normal."

"See? A good night sleep has alway helped." Lloyd put on his best fake reassuring smile as he curved his head and faced Kratos directly. As he sat up, he spotted Noishe on the floor beside him, probably had come in when his father did or else the beast would have been startled by the thrown knife. "Are the others still downstairs?"

"Yeah but they're planning on leaving soon after, the king needs them back again. I plan on staying here to keep watch, so does Yuan." Kratos reached out and flipped one of the brown bangs to the side only to watch it go back to its original position. Lloyd helped by blowing a puff of air at it but it still went back. The door behind them slammed open, not as loud as something being broke but it was loud enough. Noishe jumped up from his comfy spot on the floor and twisted his large head to the doorway. The two relatives did the same but Lloyd didn't seem so surprised, he had felt the ex-chosen sneaking up the stairs. Zelos grinned; he had come back and was glad he was able to surprise the stoic seraphim.

"Aren't you supposed to be with the others?" Lloyd asked, tilting his head to the side, trying to keep up his appearance. He had become a professional in hiding his real emotions and even facial expressions almost to the point where he could no longer tell if the ones he was wearing were _real_ or _not_.

"Who else is better in watching you then the Great Zelos Wilder?" He yelled out at the top of his lungs, sauntering closer to the two. Noishe went back to his spot, moving away from the entry just in case.

Lloyd pouted and blandly stated. "My dad."

Zelos expressed a hurt expression, placing his hand at the chest. "Ow, that really hurts." He was about to comment on something else when he was suddenly pushed roughly aside. Skidding across the floor, he tried to keep his balance and twisted around to face the person who had done that and make a rude comment only to be stopped by the irritated face. Backing away, Zelos took a refuge behind the table so he couldn't get involved into this mess. In front of the doorway stood Raine, holding her staff threateningly at her side, standing straight in all her glory. Her eyes pierced at Lloyd who didn't flinch and stalked forward. She had a wicked smile plastered on her lips; her prey was temporarily stuck in bed that means she was allowed to do whatever she wanted. Lloyd didn't move, squeezing his fists harder to the point where his skin was turning back to white. He no longer had the blue hue in his fingers or face, but his cheeks were still pale in color. Kratos noticed the sudden change in Lloyd's attitude, his ruby pools observing.

"Lloyd, I still haven't taught you your lesson yet now have I?" Raine strolled in, forgetting to close the door. She completely ignored that last time she had attacked the guardian and gotten thrown to the side. Noishe shot up; wandering away from the rampaging professor and when he suddenly detected the aura surrounding Lloyd, he whined, worried about how this might come out. He glanced around the room looking for help when he spotted something dark in the doorway. It was a dark mist seeping out from outside the door and windows. The fog spreading on the floor made the protozoan cry out louder, voices could be heard from the mist. Screams of terror and horror echoed through the room and sounds of people being cut to pieces covered the room. Words written in blue were scratching on the wall, Noishe tried to read them but it was in a different language. Hands seem to claw out of it, scratching the wood, pulling itself closer to the professor. No one but Noishe saw this, the beast jumped close to Lloyd, trying to snap him out of his trance. Raine was still advancing dangerously to the guardian whose right eye had flickered blood red for a second. Kratos stared; he didn't catch the flickered but reached over, resting his hand on top of Lloyd's head, hoping that would wake him up.

"W-" Lloyd shot up, his strength loosing up in his hand, the mist pulled back into the darkness. The voices became distance, dying away with the fog and the words vanished.

Kratos nodded his head, rising up from his seat and stood in front of the teenager, defending him. "Raine, I suggest at a later time, let Lloyd heal up the rest of the way, plus do you _want_ to redo that last incident?"

The professor paused in her steps, the memories of last time was coming back. She stared at the brown-haired teenager; perhaps it wouldn't be best to anger Lloyd. The memory of him becoming different seemed to have imprinted itself into her memories even the ones downstairs. The grip on her staff relaxed, she could always do it later. "Alright but for now."

Lloyd relaxed, his shoulders slumping downward, the threatening feeling was gone for the time being. The presence of his other self was going back into its hole since it had been interrupted by his father. He flopped back onto the bed, and raised a hand up, shading his eyes. That had been a close one; he had almost done the same attack as he had done to the Makuras back at their base on Raine. A hand went to his side, Lloyd gazed over, he noted the worry expression his father was giving him and just smiled.

Kratos couldn't shake this feeling that Lloyd knew more than he was told. His visible red eye observed Lloyd suspiciously, looking for any traces of lies, he couldn't find any. Was Lloyd that good now at hiding his real emotions? "Get some more rest. I'll bring up some food for you later."

"Alright, thanks." Closing his eyes, he snuggled into the covers, hiding every part of his body besides his head and parts of his neck. Everyone else left, heading out the door and closed it behind so that no one else would disturb the swordsmen. Lloyd burrowed his head into the pillow, breathing in its scent and reached up, using it like a teddy bear. The sunlight still shined into the room which annoyed him for a bit, it made the room too bright to sleep in. Lloyd opened his eyes, peeking behind him and raised a hand, waving it in a circle. The curtains came alive, closing by themselves with the room growing darker as it did. He watched as the light faded into a dim, thin line, the shadows on the walls grew thicker and darker. In one final tug, the light vanished and the room went black and silent. Voices could still be heard outside and down below but it wasn't as bad as before.

Cloud reappeared next to the guardian, quietly of course, his clock was flapping. His red eyes were closed as if deep in thought before they opened up, the dirty blond hair dancing. He glanced over to the one window that was still opened, the curtains pushed aside by the strong breeze. Lloyd had missed that one by mistake, ignoring the presence of the sun. Floating over, a hand was pulled out of that black mass, reaching out to the frames. It closed slowly, the hinges creaking, the wind that flowed into the room stopped. Lloyd didn't react to the movement, resting closer to the covers and fell asleep. His brown locks were scattered along the pillow and his breathing was soft.

* * *

He stared at the place; it was the same dream, the same feel of the bitter rain. Lloyd felt his clothes grow wet, his brown locks, slumping down flattened out by the pelting water. There was the wooden guillotine surrounded by people who continued to stand there quietly. The black umbrellas was hanging right above their heads, covering them. The town looked as gloomy as ever, nothing much had changed from the last few times he had dreamed of this nightmare. Two bodies were hanging, the ropes wrapped tightly around their necks. They were already dead; the platform underneath them was gone. Lloyd glanced down to his feet where puddles of water covered them, letting his boots sink in deeper. The water that drenched him was cold like ice and the temperature sent shivers down his spine. Goose bumps crawled up and down his flesh, his cloths attached to his skin. He raised a hand up, swatting aside a bang that had fallen into his eyes. The other locks of hair that stuck to his face, onto his skin were like glue. Lloyd could see the woman behind the second body, the flowing long blue hair flapping wildly in the wind, slanting and bending at each beat. Her dark green eyes was staring before her, he could tell she wanted to reach out and help the innocent boy that was hanged and save him from his miserable fate. The blue-green dress was raised up when the air blew harder, the rain growing firmer at each strike. The eternal swordsmen blinked; something was missing, something that was always in this nightmare.

_Cloud was_ _gone_.

He searched the area for the red-eyed man, for the familiar large black cloak. Lloyd ran through the crowd, his body passing right through them, something that had _never_ happened before. He jumped on top of the planks; the two bodies, his and someone else's, departed and frozen. Searching harder, he ran to the spot where Cloud was supposed to be standing but there was no sight of him.

Had Cloud left him to die alone? The idea was preposterous but the evidence was firm like the rain that beat down on his body. His movements became slow and sluggish with the extra weight pulling him down. The fingers hurt from the arctic atmosphere, puffs of steam blew in front of his face. The man, the one who had pulled the lever, came forward stomping loudly across the planks. Lloyd twisted around, sneering at the man when he suddenly noticed something black in the distance. It was floating and hiding in the crowd, staring silently at the scene. He recognized the blond hair, and that black mass of nothingness. Lloyd blinked curiously, why was Cloud over there and not beside his older self, the eyes usually filled with worry? There was no emotion in those red pools and he disappeared into the darkness of the environment. The precipitation fell harder; the puddles deepened, some of the earth had turned into sinking sand, pulling in any poor person inside its depth. Plants were over flooded, the water continued to rise in height.

A sword cutting the ropes pulled his attention away from Cloud to the two corpses. The bodies fell forward into the mud face first. The sludge that had been collected there splashed and made the two sink like a heavy rock, plunging deeper inside. The hair and clothes were covered in it, the dimness of the storm prevented him from seeing anything too visually but he could feel himself die at that moment. He could feel the pain of his death around his neck. Luckily, it only lasted for a few seconds. Lloyd wanted to throw up, he felt his stomach churn and rumble but he held it within. His fists shook uncontrollably, had Cloud betrayed him and left him to his doom of loneness and despair? Was that how he was truly going to live like? Would everyone leave him behind or push him away calling him a freak? Would they view him like some kind of creature from the underworld that was unusual and strange?

Lloyd squeezed harder and raised his fist; he punched it into the wooden planks. A few of them cracked and shattered underneath his frustration, others bended. He rose up the other fist and punched again and again until he could feel his hands stinging. The guardian cried out in anger and confusion and hit the planks one last time before taking in a deep breath. He started laughing, he didn't know why but he just did. Everything he was staring at was amusing him, his body shook continuously. He stared out into the audience with a crazy gleam in his eyes; all of their fears were stuck on the dead bodies like they were solid. Standing up, Lloyd flipped his head back, letting the rain pitter patter on his forehead and crackled. The chilliness felt good to him, it cooled his mind and didn't stop his chuckle. The woman with the blue hair and green eyes vanished like how a ghost did fading away into the wind. The group of people scattered like a dandelion when someone blew on the tips, fluttering back to their homes to get warm. Their footprints remained imprinted into the ground, many of them flattened upon each other. Lloyd continued, he would get his revenge for _this_ later. The storm grew stronger; the wind was now blowing things apart, tossing them around like they were mere feathers. The eternal swordsmen's white swallow tails were dragged back with the current and the cut-ropes that were still tied to the guillotine fluttered, wrapping itself around the pole. He spread open his arms and laughed some more, he would get them, he would defiantly get them back for this. His laughter echoed through the quiet town and the storm continued, raging.

* * *

Lloyd opened his eyes he found himself staring at the ceiling, his expression calm and silent. The blankets around him were still on, wrapped around his body tightly, making sure that it wouldn't fall off. He sat up slowly, eyeing around the room for anyone. Only Noishe was there, sleeping peacefully on the floor not aware that his young master had woken up. Lloyd sighed quietly to himself, sliding the covers off so he could swing his feet over the side. The bare limbs shivered when they touched the ground, the sole bottoms of his foot flattened against the wood. He could hear voices coming from the hallway, footsteps heading down and even those downstairs' ones yelling out about something. He ignored it; he didn't want to create a scene like last time when that drunk was lashing around. The wood creaked at his steps, heading over to the bathroom; he _needed_ to look into a mirror. He was no longer sick, back to normal health but he still stumbled from the sleepiness, this time, into the room. Turning on the lights, his eyes stared coldly at the reflection. His image returned it just as much and moved when he did. The lights flickered; the darkness enveloped the room for that moment before coming back. Lloyd glanced at the lights, there was nothing wrong with them and he knew that the ones outside didn't do the same. Turning back, the image was still the same, he blinked, and the image _didn't_. Lloyd blinked again, the image followed. He sighed, shaking his head, it was just his imagination, _he hoped_. The brown pools went back to the mirror. The reflection was _smiling_, not a friendly or kind but the twisted one he always wore while he was killing. Lloyd didn't budge, eyeing himself carefully, watching out for any shady movements, none came. Groaning, he took a step in the opposite direction and twisted his body to turn; he didn't want to deal with this now.

'_Where do you think _you're_ going?_'

"Back to sleep." Lloyd replied, not rotating around at all, the voice that spoke out to him was if it was his own.

'_To see those nightmares again? How _noble_ of you_.' The voice laughed, it _was_ the same as his own as he was cutting up his enemies' bodies.

"Who knows, I'm not interested in talking to you." Lloyd was about to walk away when a hand reached out to him. It pulled him back so that he was facing the image on the mirror. The arm had come right out of the glass, it was real, and he could even feel the warmth from the palm of the hand. A swirl revolved around the arm, the part it had come out. "What do you want?"

'_How rude, you think that by just walking away from me will stop me, think_-'

"No, I don't." Lloyd interrupted, glaring at his reflection. "I don't think anything will stop you until you get what you want. I'm you and you're me, the one and the same. I know you won't hurt me physically but emotionally and without any hesitation."

'_I'm glad you see it that way. Cloud thinks he can keep me, you, under control by absorbing my powers to even them out and by you absorbing my soul into yours_.' The face hardened, retreating his hand back into the mirror. '_But you knew from the very beginning that this was going to happen. You knew that I was going to make you and let you go crazy. You knew that this little war was going to happen with the organization. Tell me, why didn't you resist_?'

"Its like I said before, you're me and I'm you. Whatever you are, I am. If you wanted it to happen, it was _going_ to happen. Why resist something that couldn't be stopped?" Lloyd started to walk off again, turning off the lights and headed into the bedroom where Noishe was already up and awake. He whined, he had heard Lloyd talking to someone. The eternal swordsmen stared at the beast and rubbed the head, hoping that that would calm the creature. He retracted back, strolling over to the window and pushed the curtains back so that the light could flow in, that is if there were any. The sun was already setting in the distance; the sky was colored with yellow, red, orange and blue. Lloyd could even see the shades of purple and a little bit of green in-between. The window opened, he had pushed the frame forward, and the wind came in and his face was tickled by the few bangs that hanged down, fluttering.

'_And why not_?' The voice asked, it was close enough to whisper into his ear.

'Like I said, why resist something that can't be stopped? I can't prevent you, you're stronger and you know all of my weaknesses.' Lloyd stated to himself, he didn't want Noishe to hear anymore of this conversation.

The voice was going to comment again when the door suddenly knocked. It pulled away from the darkness of Lloyd's mind leaving him alone, _for now_. The guardian didn't move or turn around; he just stood there near the window, watching the sun go down. The door opened, Kratos came in, his red hair bouncing at each step forward. He noticed the empty bed instantly, his ruby pools targeting Lloyd at the opened window. The seraphim stepped forward, his hand by the sword, could it be a trap to him? Shaking his head, he pushed all thoughts of it away. Kratos went circling the teenager so he could be standing in front of his son.

"Lloyd?" Kratos asked cautiously, his left hand reaching out, gripping the shoulder.

"Yes?" The guardian glanced up at his father with a questioning stare. "Oh, Dad! I didn't know you had come in."

"I knocked and called out to you." Kratos eyed his son carefully; he had lied about the last part but he had choice but to. Things had gone from bad to worse, he knew that and he knew that there was something strange about his son, something _very_ wrong. Everything started getting weird after the assassination on him; it was like someone switched places with the previous boy. Kratos knew for a fact that this was indeed his boy but where had the always cheerful but distractible Lloyd gone to? "Lloyd, are you _hiding_ something from me?"

The guardian blinked, tilting his head. "No, why? Do you think I am?"

The stare between them continued. "Yes, actually I do."

Lloyd almost let his face fall for a second. "But I'm not, really."

"Lloyd." The seraphim's stern voice made the teenager flinch. He leaned over, his one visible eye hardened and the bangs slid to the side so that the other eye would be appear. "You're hiding something, I don't know what but you're defiantly hiding something. I'm not going to force you to tell, you'll say it when you're ready."

The guardian almost shuttered from the coldness of his father's eyes. It was just like the rain that had fallen on him during the dream. The older man backed away, taking a few steps in the opposite direction. He rotated, heading back to the door about to leave with Noishe, who was slightly frightened of the teenager right now, when Kratos made one final peek at Lloyd. "The others will be returning soon, be careful with that open window."

The door closed leaving Lloyd in his thoughts; the darkness of the night was coming closer. The sun was already gone and the streetlights and night patrol was coming out. Lloyd neared the window, his eyes searching for something. It was coming closer to _that_ time, the time when his three friends would get killed. He had already tossed his dad's threat away, unaffected by it. Threats like those did nothing to him; his mind had already hardened from them. His eyes managed to catch a small group of people heading towards the inn, it was his cherished friends. They were strolling along the pathway, caution thrown in the wind and was chattering freely amongst themselves. How'd he wished he could go back to those times, the moments of his life he had enjoyed? The times when everyday was filled with adventure and fun? When he had been working so hard to fulfill everyone's wishes to have a complete and peaceful world free of discrimination? It was too late now; the dice had already been cast out into the deep pits of the abyss, the cube still rolling down. He could hear the clanking of its beat at each step and he was waiting for the end to see where he would go on this board of despair. Would he go and kill everyone? Or would he just abandon everyone and never see them again? Or would he go into hiding, never to be found again? Those choices all seem possible, every one of them. His hands were drenched in deep black blood from all his killing, his sins were worse than his own father's. He had killed more than anyone else could ever wish; he was drowning in a sea of red. Something black flashed behind them, Lloyd grinned, it had _begun _and he was going to end it. This dream and this fake unrealistic set of mind. He was going back to break the barrier and see when his life was going to head to.

He glanced outside his window, trying to see if there was anyone that would notice him if he was to jump out. To make reassurance he tried to sense if there was any life force nearby, none. There didn't seem to be anyone nearby so he did what he did best, he jumped out. He already had all his equipment and clothes on so he didn't need to hesitate and go explore the room for his stuff. The tails were fluttering at the air resistance that meet him as he fell, the wind hit his face and it felt good, he felt _free_. Lloyd landed gracefully without a sound and eyed the place, not moving an inch. He kneeled down afterwards, feeling the ground to note if anyone was coming closer and rushed into the bushes. He hid inside the darkness of the surroundings as a lone guard came walking by with a spear at his side. Jumping up onto the branches, he soared through each tree, hiding behind so that no one would notice him. He spotted the little group strolling, unaware about the person that was following right behind. The eternal swordsmen checked the guy out from the distance. The man was wearing the same type of weapon that had killed his group of friends and had that blond hair. It looks like he was going to get rid of him first before going after the others that were wandering aimlessly around the town. Lloyd sneaked to the side, going behind the branches and blended in with the darkness of the night. He waited patiently for the man to jump to his side and within his reach. The guy did, landing in the tree where Lloyd resided, unknown to him about the dangers that would be following afterwards. The guardian attacked first, disappearing and reappearing behind the man and softly yanked out his blade from its sheath. Using the flat end of his sword, he hit the man on the back of the neck, of course, making sure he didn't kill him. There was no point in doing something like that since he wanted the man to become his entertainment for the night. There was a sort of cracking sound, and a grunt of sharp pain from the man, unconscious. The Makura flew down, landing roughly on the ground and face first into the grass and just groaned in agony. Lloyd jumped down, pushing his weight off the branch and landed next to the guy. He leaned over, his right hand grabbing the collar of the clothes and jerked him up. When would they ever learn not to go out by themselves to kill others? After all, all this killing he had done, were they all this thick? Lloyd sighed, dragging the Makura away from the spot, heading out to an abandoned street.

Muttering some dark words under his breath, a door opened up in the middle of the street. It looked like a regular door but it had red blood running down it as a design and the wood was black just like the night. Lloyd's shadow stretched as he walked forward, the body he had capture dragging behind, looks like he was going to have some _enjoyment_ tonight.

He entered the door and viewed the insides; it was a dark room, pitch black. The door behind vanished, the light that was coming from outside was gone. The lights flickered on by themselves, in the middle of the room was a large table covered in red. Some still looked fresh dripping off the sides into the large pool that surrounded it. It was deep so that it couldn't run anywhere else and it glowed like there was a light underneath. Straps were on all four sides of the table and next to it was a stool with a silver saucer on top with numerous objects resting on a towel. A loud groan came from below, the guy was waking up. The guardian lifted the man up with one hand, tossing him roughly onto the table and strapped him down. It was tight and he made sure that the man wouldn't be able to get out unless he wanted to get rid of those limbs first. The green eyes fluttered open, first blinded by the light that was in his face. The assassin squinted, tilting to the side as he tried to shift his right hand to cover his eyes. The man stopped short and his breathing hitched, he squirmed all his limbs, grunting in frustration. He tried harder, hoping to rip the bonds off and get free but the belts were stronger.

Lloyd grinned; he had caught a victim he could use to have fun with and a lively one to boot. The person continued to wiggle on the table, twisting side to side and even lifted his body up. The guardian giggled, rounding the platform, his fingers scratching across the cold surface. He had taken off his gloves for this, he wanted to feel the flesh and blood in-between his fingers and hands. He wanted to taste the copper liquid and watch the person cry out in pain. Oh yes, he'll be having entertainment tonight alright. The man continued to struggle, more viciously then before as if feeling the impending doom that was heading towards him.

"Now, now there's no need to be rude." Lloyd giggled again as his right hand went up to his lips, covering it. "Why don't you tell me your name? I'll gladly write it on you so your comrades can tell who you are after this."

The assassin grinded his teeth, his head was still aching and throbbing from the sneak attack. His short golden colored hair that when the right ray of light shined on it, looked like the color of the sun, scattered among the top. "And why should I do that, bastard?"

The guardian of death just smiled, twirling his body so he would be staring at the Makura's face head on. He leaned in a bit, examining over the guy before pulling away. "I'm just being nice unless you want me to call you 'Makura' the whole time."

"Fine, its Andy, happy?" He sneered hatefully, glancing around the room. There were no exits or even the entrance that they had entered through, how'd they got in here, he didn't know. Lloyd didn't reply, standing back, disappearing into the darkness even though the walls covered the entire room. They were boxed in and yet Lloyd could escape without opening anything, perhaps he could go through them like that Drang fellow did before him. Andy struggled with the bonds when he couldn't see the teenager anywhere for the moment but even if he got out, where would he go? There was no place to go; he was like a sitting rabbit, waiting for the fox to eat him. The belts shifted but didn't budge, he was totally trapped. He cursed out loud, he cursed Cruxis, he cursed the bloody angels and he cursed Lloyd with every bone and fiber in his body, hoping that a fate like his own would befall the teenager. Laughter came into the once silent room, louder that Andy's voice. Lloyd was amused by the Makura's reaction. A clanking sound filled the room, Andy didn't know where but the laughter went on. The man grew furious, more so then ever, he narrowed his emerald pools. "Is that how you acted to _him_?"

Lloyd came back into the light, right where Andy could view. He shrugged, tossing a bag beside the man, right next to the stool. The platter had some goodies but not the type Lloyd was looking for to use. "Don't know, what's his name?"

The Makura stared long and hard. "It's Nike."

A sudden flash of the man with short golden colored almost honey and emerald eyes that looked like gems. The one he had killed at the Renegade's base passed his mind. Lloyd neared the Makura, his face grinning and leaned back over and his brown eyes stared into the green ones with humor. So that's why they looked were so familiar, now he knew for real. Okay, he had lied, he wasn't thinking about the familiarly at all but he could pull the act. "No wonder, I was beginning to think you _were_ connected to someone just couldn't think of the name and face to attach it with." Lloyd took out a chair from the darkness and within the walls. Could it be passed through like water? He yanked it closer to them and sat down, arms crossed. "Well if you want to know, he was screaming and weeping out some name as he died, I believe it was yours. He was crying out 'I'm sorry' every few moments and teared like anything. He looked so fragile and _dead_."

This made Andy snap, he jumped up, well tried to, from the bonds, glowering at the once hero that saved the world from Cruxis. "You bastard, how _dare_ you! How _dare_ you treat my brother like that!"

Lloyd laughed at the raging expression and patted the top of the guy's head. He made sure not to get bitten by the teeth, the guy seemed provoked. (Oh and he wonders why) "Well don't worry; you won't be awake for the dismembering process. I'm not that _cruel,_ well except for that time with your brother; he was still alive as I did it." He pulled out the scalpel knife from behind his back, letting it shine in the light high above their heads. The blade glittered, the light reflecting off of it and onto the wall. Andy tensed, wanting to back away or tried to from the crazy man. The struggling got harder, he was wishing that the belts would rip off, at least then he could fight back. Lloyd neared the man, the knife at the throat ready to slice. He twisted it so that the blade would be pointing directly at the skin and slowing slid open a line across the flesh. His lips grinned, watching the blood smear out of the line, going down the flesh. Andy grunted quietly, biting his lips and clenched his hands, he refused to let out a cry to satisfy this cracked boy. Lloyd reached forward with one hand, the free one, and touched the blood. He tapped the neck, dabbing it softly, letting his fingers get dyed by the red. Bringing it back up, he licked it, tasting the flavor. The red tongue ran over it and pulled it back, his face twitching in distaste. "You two are _both_ dirty, must run in the family."

Lloyd shook his head, leaning over to gaze at the neck. He had only carefully cut the top layer of the skin, and a few tiny blood vessels. The cold metal went deeper, this time going into the muscles, tearing it open. Andy tried to stay still, he knew if he moved in any slightest way, the cut would get worse and the pain would grow. It grew dreadful; the stinging pain had tripled from before, he could feel the coldness of the knife on his warm flesh. Lloyd glanced up, watching the Makura's feared expression towards the bleeding, moving the blade back and forth over the wound. He used the sharp point, pulling the skin back so he could see the insides. The Makura coughed, _that_ was his _mistake_, he had jerked, and the blade sliced the line wider. More blood squirted out, he could fell himself running dry from the waste. Blood poured faster, a thick pool was forming underneath the neck.

"Does it hurt?" The guardian asked, grinning and rose up the scalpel to give Andy some air to breath. Lloyd giggled, watching the pooling blood flow off the side, streaming down the table and into the bottom where the rest waited.

Andy sneered detestably, was he trying to make the process more miserable than before?

"Don't worry, it won't be much longer now, you can go meet your dear brother in _hell_!" The death guardian stabbed the scalpel into the throat, a gashing chocking cry called out. The arms wailed around in the belts, blood oozing out of the mouth. The blade had gone all the way through even into the metal below. Chips of white fell down drowned in deep red, Lloyd picked at them, they were fragments of the bone. He sat back on the chair, watching Andy chocked and bleed to death, the light in the eyes were fading. The body's movement was getting slower and rugged and the breathing too. He stood back up, wandering around the Makura and went to the other side. His fingernails clawing the table, a screeching sound filled the enclosed room. The fingers went up to the pool, making numerous ripples in it just for distraction. The body's heartbeat was getting faster, wanting to pump oxygen into the blood; the throat was gone, torn apart, and filled with red liquid. Blood spat out from the mouth, trying to make room in the airway to breath. The face was turning purple and blue from the lack of air and was bleeding out quickly. Lloyd giggled; a slow but painful death was always the best to watch and was fitting for the man that would have killed his dear friends. He reached out; his blood covered fingers gripping the knife and ripped it out, the thick copper liquid shot out from the hole. "Looks like you're almost gone."

Andy's eyes shifted, staring angrily at the death guardian who was still smiling. He gave one last cough, throwing out the blood that had gathered and fell back, his breathing slowing. The chest was still moving but the reaper was closer to him now.

Lloyd attacked before the guy could fully die, stabbing the man in the head. The blade pierced into the skin through the skull and bones even entering the brain inside. Lloyd remained in that position, pushing it deeper, cracking the leftover bones that was clenched around it. Andy perished quickly after, the eyes wide and dead. Finally he pulled back, straightening his back and his shoulders started shaking. Laughter escaped from Lloyd's lips, his _brown_ eyes gazing at the corpse. He yanked out the scalpel, it was _stuck,_ and he lugged harder and succeeded in taking out the metal case. The blade was embedded inside the head though, Lloyd groaned, his laughter dying down. There goes a perfectly nice and lovely blade. Reaching out to the side where the saucer where some other blades were laid out neatly, he grabbed a new one, tossing the broken one aside. Chucking the new one up and down, he found it acceptable in cutting and began skinning the flesh around the head. The tissue was placed aside next to the face as the skull became a full display. The bones had scratches when the tip had tried the cut into but it was harder than it looked.

"Seems like I'll need something stronger than this." He snapped his fingers, the bag that he had brought in, appeared right next to him. Lloyd didn't feel like going around the table to get it, he felt too lazy. His eyes glanced up over to the darkness where a clock was magically heard. There was no image on the wall but the sounds of the ticking equaled out with his heartbeats. The room was almost silent, the dripping of blood, falling off the neck, blended out the clock. The figure of the object appeared, telling him the time and grumbled at it. It was already _that_ late; the others should have noticed his absence by now and were probably worried too. After all, 'the Dark Heavens' had already attacked him twice before. "Damn, looks like I'm out of time to play." Lloyd sighed, snapping his fingers one last time. He could always capture another one later on. This war wasn't going anywhere until one side was obliterated. Naturally, he was going to be victorious no matter what. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on teleporting them both back to Meltokio, the bag disappearing back to wince it came. The body flopped heavily on the floor, blood still draining out of the corpse. Lloyd kicked it before leaning over examining over what he had done. The head was unidentifiable. There was nothing left to see.

A rustle came from behind him and he shot to that side where it had occurred. He smirked. He had found another one to toy with. "Come on out, I know you're there."

Another assassin stepped out of the bushes, a female this time. She held her sword in front of her chest carefully, watching the eternal swordsmen. The moon shined fully in the night sky, stars sparkling like little pebbles of light. All the streetlights were turned on and made the blood that was surrounding the dead carcass glitter. It was too dark to see the woman though, her figure and looks hidden in the darkness of the shadows from the trees.

"You're Lloyd Irving, correct?" She asked, stepping closer so she could get near to Andy's body, rage rising in her thoughts.

"Maybe, maybe not, but who cares, are you going to fight me or not?" Lloyd draws out both of his swords, getting himself into arrangement.

"I'll fight you and defeat you at the same time, get ready, you beast!" The woman rushed forward, ready to attack and made an upward slash from down below, wanting to segment Lloyd in two. The guardian stepped aside, reaching out to catch the blade while dropping his own. He succeeded, keeping the woman on hold and his right sword stabbed to the ground right in-between the rocks. Lloyd flipped upward, kicking the female in the stomach and continued backwards until he reached his balance again. Skipping forward, he tossed the woman's sword aside, it had cut into his hands but that didn't matter much to him. The wound was healing at a drastic speed and within seconds, it was gone. He reached for his own, heading forward, the girl had slammed into the metal pole from the force. The person was also stupid; fighting alone with someone that could take out hundreds of men was an idiot's job. The whole bunch of these mortals were brainless, they should be bringing out a whole army after him. Lloyd rose his blade up and made a horizontal slash, cutting the neck clean off. No flesh was ripped, just one slice to end the tiny battle, if it could be called that. Some blood that squirted out managed to hit him on the cheek, most was on his blades. He flicked his sword to the side, getting rid of the liquid and sheathed them back. The head rolled off, bouncing on the rocks until it came to a stop. Lloyd giggled quietly to himself; he didn't want to attract any more attention than he already had. His feet started running, dashing into the bushes where the woman had come out of. He jumped behind, ducking and slowly crawled into the blackness so he could easily get away. Footsteps came from the road, many of them bunched together at once. They had heard the commotion the two had made. Lloyd managed to sneak by and peek at the group, it was the royal soldiers, numerous of them. More must be scouting the area since the murders that had happened in this town had skyrocketed. The eternal swordsmen jumped up onto the wall, kneeling down like a cat, his eyes searching for any life that was in the area. He soared to the other side, heading back to the inn, forgetting about the little blood that was still on his face. Landing on the ground silently, he was a few feet away from the place. The light brimming from the window was bright, cutting through the darkness with ease. Just as Lloyd neared the building and took a step forward, he heard something.

"Lloyd, is that _you_?"

The guardian twisted around, not all the way to prevent the person from seeing the red liquid. He recognized the red hair, long and shiny even in the moonlight and those bright blue eyes. Lloyd felt fear rushing into his body, he had been found.

"Zelos?"

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Cliffhanger, Muhaha!!! Victory is mine, forever. Okay, calming down now. Well this one is shorter than the others, really short but oh well.


	8. Farewell Obliteration

**Black Terror**

**By: Metamorcy**

**Disclaimer**: Don't own anything and never will. Drang and Cradle belongs to me though, they're my made up people.

I'm getting close to finishing and then I'm calling quits but don't worry, I'll be completing this if this is the last thing I'll do!

**6/04/09 this had been edited for spelling**

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Chapter 8: Farewell Obliteration

"Zelos."

Lloyd only turned slightly so that the man couldn't see the blood that was stained on his cheek. He had a foreign emotion coursing through his veins, fear was it? Lloyd wasn't sure since he had never experienced something like this, perhaps he really was afraid of being found out.

The ex-chosen wandered forward, trying to get in front so he could face the other. He was smiling proudly like always, his expression hardly ever changing. Zelos had no clue as to what trouble he had gotten himself into and continued on. The guardian backed away at each step, he wanted to run but looking at Zelos' face made him freeze into place.

"Hey, where've you been? Everyone's been worried sick about you. Colette almost screamed when she found your bed empty."

"I've been wandering, getting some fresh air." Lloyd responded emotionlessly, his hand reaching up to rid the blood that still blemishes his cheek. It smeared across his skin and silently groaned to himself as a response, this was getting to be a headache. He rubbed harder, licking his fingers and wiped it against the red blotch. The saliva was warm but once it met the cold atmosphere, the liquid became ice. The other hand held the glove he had taken off, squeezing on them tightly when his flesh burned from the friction he was creating. He called out to Zelos as a distraction since he was almost done. "Aren't you going back?"

"Not without you, I won't. Do you know mad Kratos was? He was almost literally throwing a tantrum. He had thought you had been kidnapped again. Oh, for my sake, you didn't hear that from me." Zelos placed an arm around his buddy's shoulder and pulled him in. He still had that idiotic smile that made many woman woes him. As he looked back down at his best friend, he noticed something peculiar. The poignant expression plastered on Lloyd was growing murky as if he was hiding something deeper within his heart.

Lloyd gazed over, putting on a cheery smile but they both knew it was fake. It was so obvious like the tears that would be falling down a crying woman after losing her son or lover. Pulling away from the warm embrace, he began heading in a different direction, his lips whispering out something like poison. "I'm sorry Zelos…but _this will be my _final_ day here_."

The appearance on Zelos' face was speechless and as he tried to reach forward to grab the guardian, he was slapped further away. He massaged his throbbing hand and gaped. "What?! Why?! What do you mean by that?!"

"You don't need to know that." Lloyd hadn't so much as turn and began to advance by running, not wanting to be caught again. He could tell that the red head was trying to trail the parting swordsmen but quickly fell back and lost track of him. Lloyd was persistent to make a break for it, unable to stop himself until he knew for sure that no one was around to see him. When he finally stopped, he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before circling in the opposite direction, heading back to the inn, this time traveling through the trees undetected. He didn't want a repeat of what had happened a few minutes ago. Why was he running back? There were two more of those assassins nearby, one close to the inn and the other one far away but that one seemed to be hazy. Their presence didn't decide to appear until the moment Zelos had showed up. Which was odd but Lloyd tossed caution in the wind. He hid in the trees, his hand gripping the bark below, surveying the area. The window that peered into Colette, Genis and Raine's room was right in front. He recognized it from his dream; it was the same one with the multiple glass frames. Lloyd flopped down on the branch, his foot swinging in the open air. His brown eyes peered into the window where the three of them were talking peacefully unaware of the presence that was watching them. Lloyd continued to observe them, his pools alleviated; memories of his old days slipped back into his mind. Times of when he was talking to his friends cheerfully without any suspicion or doubt. Those were some of the memoirs that he'll never get back. Shaking his head, he pushed them away; he didn't want to see them again. It only brought back the heartache he'd rather not feel. The eternal swordsmen glanced back at the window, the three were now gone, probably going out to help in his search. He gazed up to the night sky, to the stars and whispered below his breath. "Its too late now, I've already gone too far to go back now. I can only move forward."

Lloyd wasn't sure to whom he was speaking to or was it to himself or the other personality he had created? His heart beated faster and he grinned in lunacy.

"Lloyd, I'm afraid that this will be the last time I'll be able to talk to you. I've decided to move on already." A voice entered his mind as a mere whisper. Lloyd continued to smile, not really caring, he had already known this was going happen. Cloud was almost gone now; he had felt the presence slowly slipping away. "Good-bye."

"Yeah."

An eerie silence engulfed him, he was alone now, the warm feeling he had in his chest was gone. But he didn't care; he was going to have his entertainment soon.

"It seems you have appeared." The guardian announced to the person beside him. The assassin had jumped to the branch without even realizing that it would be his last and greatest mistake. The man flinched at the voice and glimpsed over with fire burning in his eyes. His fingers were grasping the sword in his hand, glaring grimly.

"You're Lloyd Irving, aren't you?" The man sneered, backing up.

The teenager squinted his eyes, so they knew about him already. "Who told you that?"

"And why should I tell you?"

"Cause then this battle would be more interesting."

The assassin paused and Lloyd swore he saw the right eye twitch. "The leader, he's been watching you ever since you were kidnapped. He noticed the funny aura surrounding you and investigated. We managed to pinpoint your true self; you're the guardian of death, the Sentencer and the Bleeding Black Angel. It was quite hard to find information on you, you know. Your locker was hard to crack too, Lord Cyran bet that that was only a small fraction of what it really is."

Lloyd beamed, so he _was_ doomed to leave just like his gut feeling had told him. It was over but that didn't mean he couldn't cause as much trouble as possible. "Not bad." The leader, Lloyd could tell wasn't from this planet, getting into his profile had to take skill. He himself made sure that no one could get into it though he had _purposefully_ left a small entrance to see if anyone could fall in. It's not as if it held anything too important, it didn't even have a picture of him. The guardian leaned back, staring up at the night sky again that was fading away with a thick sheet of clouds that was rolling in out of nowhere. "I have many names but those three are the main ones, maybe later on I'll add another one in."

"I'll get rid of you before that can happen." The grip on the sword tightened ready to attack at any given moment.

"You should know better by now that you can't defeat me, only a guardian or someone more powerful can go against me and live to tell the tale." He jumped off the branch, his feet stepping on another one below and twisted his body over. The brown pools gazed at the assassin with amusement and giggled. _He_ was death himself. It was impossible to stop or destroy it and Lloyd was its very existence. "You're doing a worthless job. You should have run instead, there's not much to do when you're killed off. I'm giving you a chance to get away and live a normal live, death is a heavy price for you to pay, you know."

"Sorry but today you'll be dying no matter what." The killer dove below, the sword swinging down in a horizontal slash. Lloyd pulled out his left one and jumped back, grinning like the crazy man he is. He watched as the killer sliced the previous spot in half, the branch tumbling to the ground. Leaves floated down, ripped from its home but before it could reach its new one, they were pushed aside by a blazing breeze or if that _was_ a breeze. Lloyd dashed through, cutting the wind, making his own behind, jumping back up for his own attack. His blade only cut air though, the metal glittering in the moonlight and reflected the flash of his next appearance. Lloyd still had his grin, he was having fun as always and this seemed to be a _great_ warm-up compared to the last two he had killed. Landing gracefully on another branch, he eyed the man that was below, their positions switched. Before the other could do anything, the guardian bended back down, hoping to cut the man in half but that was quickly deflated as the assassin dodged to the side.

"You're fast." The eternal swordsmen stated with a teasing tone, the moonlight was hitting his face at the right position. He looked terrifying and almost like a monster out of a horror movie. They started up again; Lloyd dodged all the man's attacks with ease and visa versa although the killer knew that Lloyd was just playing with him. "Not bad, I'll say."

"I'll get my revenge for what you have done, I swear to that."

Lloyd snorted out a response. "You should look closer; someone else is doing my job. I've only had time to kill those your organization has sent after me and my friends, not after those guys outside."

"What do you mean?" An upper slash and a stab followed up were all avoided by Lloyd's lighting fast reflexes.

"I mean I'm not the only one that's killing you off."

A pause occurred from the man's movement, letting Lloyd get a chance for an attack. The guardian muttered something quietly to himself, raising his sword up. His lips were moving but no sound was coming out and an aura vibrated off his core.

"It's over, good-bye."

Swords colored in black and red appeared around the assassin, circling the poor soon-to-be-dead man. They came downwards, ramming through the flesh, all thirty or so blades hitting one spot. The man disappeared inside the metal, blood oozing out from in-between and bottom. Lloyd spotted one piece of skin that hadn't been dyed yet, it was a hand, outside the mess. As the blades pulled back, blood squirted from each draw and tug at the ragged corpse. Lloyd strolled over to the spot; the numerous weapons vanishing back to where they had come from. His feet splashed into the puddles, the guardian's sword was scratching against the ground, hanging limply in hand. A long thin line was buried into the earth and when it touched the blood, it flowed through like water. The corpse was being held up with one or two swords that were floating in mid air. More liquid flowed from the open wounds, the metallic smell filling his senses. The body was no longer recognizable after what he had done to it. When the last two blades dissipated, the body fell forward where Lloyd was patiently waiting for it to hit the blood-soaked ground.

"You're slow, even now as you fall." The teenager made the final attack, pointing his sword up and swiftly sliced the man in half through the center. Splatters of blood rained down on him as the man fell apart. Some got on his clothes, a little bit on the face, dripping off the chin. A droplet entered his mouth and Lloyd licked it, massaging his tongue on his lips. He took in the taste and it wasn't so bad this time, a bit better than the last one. His skin was pastel, almost white in the pale lighting and his face was expressionless. The sword in his hand had blood dripping off the sharp end as if nothing important had happened; it was so _simple_ to kill off someone. Yes, it was, it was the _easiest_ thing to do. It was so straightforward, the best way to get rid of the noise and pain. The guardian smiled and kicked the top portion of the body.

The bugs were silent tonight even the wind didn't dare blow its cool breeze now. Lloyd sighed, _his dream was ending_. Everything was over for him, his dream with all friends and family has finally been obliterated. Rotating to face the trees and bushes, his brown eyes stared into the darkness of the night. It was silent, almost too quiet for this city.

"Come on out, hiding from me isn't going to make things easier for you." Lloyd taunted, tilting his head to the left, his smirk still there.

A figure stepped out of the bushes, the spiky red hair noticeable in the light. Kratos' face was unreadable, hidden underneath the red mess but Lloyd could tell he was staring unswervingly at him. The guardian sighed, sheathing his sword away and tapped his foot.

"And the rest of you too. I know you're all there." The guardian's gaze softened as the remainder of the group came out from hiding. He could feel their fear admitting from their bodies even though many of them had their faces stone cold. Lloyd squeezed his hands together tightly; he had been caught at long last, captured by his own dear friends. How fate despised and cursed him. _Wait_…does he have that privilege to call them that now after all he's done? His eyes traveled over their expressions, everyone was staring at him in shock, not that he could blame them on that. Their eyes were showing disbelief even though they had watched the killing; they just couldn't understand why Lloyd of all people had to be the villain.

Colette's voice was shaky and strained, her eyes wide. It was as if someone had taken the pleasure to carve that and laughed afterwards to her misery. "Why, Lloyd? Why did you kill all these people? They meant nothing by it, it was our fault to begin with."

The guardian twisted to the blonde with cold eyes. He examined the others; Genis had the same look that Colette held, his body next to Raine's who was showing indifference. Zelos' eyes were wide but Lloyd had a gut feeling that the red headed ex-chosen had known from the beginning. He couldn't get a good look at Sheena, Regal, or Presea since they were still in the darkness of the trees. His brown eyes turned to his father, the expression he was receiving had nothing on it but anger in the eyes. Yuan was the same; his fists were shaking in tremors. The eternal swordsmen sighed, shifting his head, his visage facing downwards at the ground. The shadow that always appeared was casted over his eyes, his smile widening. Suddenly he started laughing, his shoulders shaking in amusement. It cut through the tension like a warm butter and knife. It was loathed, echoing through the town like the sick extreme teenager he was. The group of heroes flinched at the crackle and went into a defensive state. It died down (the laughter) and Lloyd breathed in and out, catching his breath before giggling to himself. His face was wearing that horrible grin he wore when he was about to kill again. "Colette, you've always been so ignorant about everything. The world isn't as innocent as you hoped or thought it to be. People kill all the time; it's in their nature to do so, survival of the fittest. The world isn't black and white like you've always been seeing it; it's covered in a thick hue of red."

"But killing is just plain wrong." Colette edged on, tears forming in her eyes.

"Sure it is." Lloyd sneered sarcastically, throwing the weak argument behind him. "You've killed too or have you forgotten that, Colette? How about those monsters you've come across or the desians back in the past. You've killed too, don't _ever_ forget that." Colette couldn't make a comment, backing away in fear; the glint in Lloyd's eyes scared her. "But this is great, I've been captured at long last, I'm happy for some weird reason. Now I have a reason to go back to _them_."

Kratos took a cautious step forward, eye brow raised at the last part. He was vigilant of his son; Lloyd wasn't someone to be underestimated. "What do you mean? Plus you didn't have to kill that man so horribly."

"I can't help it; I love blood, death, the feel of the battle and the screams of the people I get to torture." Lloyd giggled louder, pulling out his twin swords, the gleam reflecting. "You're all fools, the lot of you. Oh and Dad, to answer your little question, I get to go back to the others, to my old friends. I've traveled around many times in my short life; I've seen many things over my time. Ever since I was young I had taken odd jobs from _them_, even before I've meet any of you."

Genis stepped forward; he had regained enough courage to stand up against his once best friend. His feet were trembling along with his voice. He was scared of this 'Lloyd' before him; it wasn't the same one he had known during his childhood. An image of Lloyd appeared in his mind, smiling dumbly and so very cheerfully but the being in front was the total opposite. "You can't be Lloyd, he would never do such a thing, and he would never say such things either. The Lloyd I remember is kind and gentle, not you! Where's the real one? Where did he go?!"

The guardian of death turned to Genis with a frown. "Do you know how many times I've been asked that? It's so annoying." Of course, no one would believe him, it was as if someone had replaced the one in their memories. It was hard to coop with such a sudden change; Lloyd didn't blame them on that either. He strolled frontward, disregarding the people that were watching him. His feet crunched on the soft grass and tore the larger pieces off. "Do you want to know so badly?"

Genis didn't answer, dread had stopped him from speaking but he managed to shake his head.

"Then you should _die_ and go to hell, you'll defiantly find the answer _there_. Of course, you can't come back. If you want, I could gladly give you an early grave." Lloyd raised his sword, the others gasped out in shock. Raine jumped in front to protect her little brother while Kratos rushed to help. Lloyd sighed, he could feel it coming, another blade in mid-air. He could hear it coming towards him, cutting through the air. The guardian dropped his blades except for one to stop Kratos' attack that would have cut his arm. The clanking of metal flinched everyone from their frozen stare. Then it happened. Lloyd choked, the dagger that had been in the air crashed into his neck, coming out the other side. He coughed on it, blood dripping out of his lips, dropping his weapon reflexively. The red liquid oozed from the gapping hole and colored his neck. Collapsing to the ground, Lloyd stared at the sky without shock or anything but with a smile. The blood that had seeped out of the large wound had dyed his clothes and drained down further.

Kratos stared in shock, some of the guardian's blood splattered on his cheek. He stopped his attack at once and gawked at the fallen body that was once his living son. The chest had stopped moving, the eyes somewhat cold and lifeless. He dropped to the ground, knees digging into the earth. His son was dead. Kratos squeezed his fist and punched the ground in rage. He fell into a pit of pity. How come everything couldn't go as he had planned it, must everyone in his life die before him? The seraphim twisted to glare at the person that had thrown the offending weapon. "_Why_?"

A being stepped out of the shadow, it was another assassin. "Why?" The man spat out in disgust. "It should be bloody obvious, you should be thankful that the _terror_ is now dead. That one boy could, no; he would have killed you all. You should be grateful to me."

"That doesn't matter, that was my son!"

The assassin strolled forward holding out another dagger in hand. He went into a defensive position ready to attack and kill the broken seraphim but that was cut short. Kratos paused, eyeing the man at the chest. Something was coming out, a red spot dripping wet at the heart cavity. The assassin groaned and cried out in pain. A sword stabbed through the flesh, coming out from that same spot, slowly inching out. It pulled back violently and the man flopped forward dead. Blood dripped out of the mouth and Kratos' gazed upon the killer that had done the deed. His eyes widened at the sight, Lloyd was standing before him.

"Lloyd?" The red head stepped forward again, disbelief and confusion written all over the face. Lloyd still had the dagger in the throat, the flesh from inside seeable. "How can you still be _alive_?"

"Alive?" Lloyd choked out without a problem; the cut on his neck wasn't effecting his speaking. "Didn't you know? I can't die, no matter how hard I try."

Yuan gaped at the sight; blood was still flowing out of the hole. The throat could be seen from the outside, the bone and vessels poking through. Lloyd reached up, gripping the dagger roughly, making the gash larger and spat out red. The blood was going up his pipe, not that he cared. It dripped down his lips and he ripped the offending thing out. Blood splattered out from the artery but Lloyd looked unaffected by it. The wound poured out the copper liquid continuously but it slowed down as the cut began to heal. Everyone stared and watched it as it happened and the guardian took a step forward, the others remained still in apprehension. The eternal swordsmen snorted, twirling around and sighed. As he started strolling away so he could disappear, Lloyd felt his body freeze.

"What?!" the guardian growled out, lights flashing up from the ground, trapping him from escape. When the light died down, bars of a glowing illumination surrounded him, stuck like a bird in a cage.

"Looks like I've got you, Lloyd."

The teenager realized the voice and glanced behind, glaring at the other man. A man with purple hair that stood with a grin, arms folded neatly across his chest. Lloyd groaned, he had gotten caught in a trap, a well made one too. The brown eyes continued to observe Cyran, this had been all planned, Lloyd could tell just by looking into the eyes. He glared at the man with hatred that would have burned anything it looked at to the ground. Grumbling, he reached out to the bars that were glowing brightly and tapped it guardedly. Lloyd didn't even get a chance to feel the metal before retracting it back instantly, a sharp bolt of electricity circling the tips of his fingers. It was highly charged, a mere touch, if placed long enough, could literally fry the body and mind of a person.

"Electrifying, isn't it?" The man teased, his hands dusting themselves. "Do you know how hard it was to figure out that the killer or one of them was you? I had to sacrifice hundreds of my soldiers just to get this far to meet you face to face and you know what, it's not that bad."

"What do you mean?" Kratos asked, his sword still in his hands, fingers becoming white from his hold. The leader of the organization was holding his son captive and that didn't fit well in his stomach even if Lloyd _was_ the murderer.

"Oh, you don't know?" The man had a humorous tone in his voice and turned back to Lloyd. "You didn't tell them about your _true_ identity or your powers?"

The guardian snorted again. "And why the hell would I reveal myself to a bunch of mortals? They're all going to die sooner or later, why bother telling them something they can't handle?"

"Good point, I wouldn't either." Cyran giggled, twisting around to face the group of confused idiots. "Well allow me to explain what's going on. You see, Lloyd's a guardian."

A few blinks passed and a silence between the two. The first one to speak up was Raine, who was holding her staff threateningly. "What do you mean by 'guardian'? What's that?"

Lloyd sighed; the explanation for this would take a while. Why wasn't he stopping the man? Well one, the evidence was against him, after all, he did kill that assassin in cold blood. Two, he had supposedly died by having his throat pierced and bleed out and yet look at him now, he still could move around. Plus, he wasn't even affected by the blood lost. Three, Cyran had introduced him to the others. So yeah, what's the bother of trying to convince the group otherwise? It would be pointless. Even if he killed Cyran right now, he would still have to answer to his father and that was something he'd rather avoid. Lloyd flopped down on the floor, sitting with his legs criss-crossed, looking for a way out of this mess. The cage was well built, almost to perfection; he could hardly see any flaws in them. It even had the ground underneath his feet covered.

"A guardian is a being with great powers. This person is chosen from an ability that is in a form of a sphere created from the dead fourth creator. I'm not willing to go into the whole history lesson about the creators and their abilities so don't bother asking but I will tell you this. Lloyd kills millions, no I understated that, he kills billions upon billions of lives each and every day perhaps every hour. He's the guardian of death or is he perhaps a god? Who know but he can tell when someone is going to die whether in the future or the present. He can even tell how they will go and even prevent it too. That's part of his job as a guardian but I think Cloud, the previous guardian, does most of the work since Lloyd is only seventeen."

He paused for a moment to see the group's reaction before continuing on. "Lloyd's the one that's been killing us off and I've found an interest in those powers of his." Cryan circled around the eternal swordsmen with a grin that could have been a reflection of Lloyd's. "I want them for myself or at least get you at my side. With those abilities, I'll be almost unstoppable."

This caught the guardian's attention. "Say what?"

"That's right. I want you to fight with me." Cyran went closer to Lloyd, who was glaring coldly. "Or I want to use your powers as my own and that's why you're in that cage."

Lloyd sighed in annoyance, pointing out the mechanism below. "This isn't a normal trap circle, it's also a separator. If used correctly it could pull apart the powers, abilities or soul from the body. You're properly prepared, not bad."

"Perhaps it could get rid of that _personality_ of yours too. I bet everyone would be happy to get their _old_ Lloyd back, don't you agree?" The leader wandered around the prison, his fingers running over the safe spots of the bars. "I could also let you do all the killing for me if you decide to join forces."

At this point Lloyd started laughing, he laughed so hard that he was holding his stomach in pain. Everyone had their eyes on him in confusion and fright, Lloyd looked like the being of perverseness. "Return? Help you? That's great. You do that." He sneered happily, calming his grin. "You want the _real_ Lloyd back? Don't make me laugh again. I hate to tell you this, but I am him or _was_. I only show my true self around my enemies and when I'm alone, not where people could see." Lloyd glanced sideways to his friends. "Oh, I bet you're all wonder 'well why didn't this happen before? Surely Lloyd would have revealed his other self at least once during the travel', right? Well I suppose I'll tell you, killing helps calm me down from my own insanity, I was killing everyday, whether it was monsters, people or the desians, I had my fun and enjoyment. I kept going but it wasn't until the killing stopped that my madness came back to haunt me, what was I suppose to do? Live peacefully? Bull, I would start killing those around me to fulfill my thirst, it was a gossamer balance. So I started thinking if the 'Dark Heavens' organization wants a war, why not give it to them? Why not start it up and make it bloody. It was fun while it lasted." He started laughing again, closing his eyes and threw back his head.

Colette who seemed to be the most tranquilized position of the group was shaking her head in doubt. She couldn't believe her eyes or ears; they had to be all lies. There was no way that the Lloyd she knew could be speaking those gruesome words to everyone. Raine noticed this and placed a comforting gesture on the shoulder, pulling her in closer. Kratos' eyebrows were slanted downward and took a rough step forward. Yuan followed behind in sync, his blue hair fluttering at the movement.

The guardian glanced at them and sighed, none of them believed him. A few showed some promise though. Lloyd stood up, cracking his knuckles and flexed his arms. "Well I've stayed here long enough, I'm got other things to do and staying here isn't on that list." He lowered his face, eyeing the spot he could exit from. "Plus now that I've been revealed I can't stay here on this planet any longer."

"Escape? From that? Good luck! It's almost impossible!" Cyran neared closer, his eyes resting on the boy's features. "I'd like to see you try, really."

Giggling at first, the eternal swordsmen seemed unaffected by the taunt. "I have no worries. I _will_ be getting out of here and settle this battle between us once and for all. Like for saying, _right __**now**_!" Lloyd thrusted his hand from in between the bars, barely touching the electricity. The fingers pierced Cyran in the heart with such speed that it broke through the chest cavity. His hand was out the other side, the nails had some of the flesh caught underneath and the fingers were dyed red. He squeezed it into a fist, burying the nails into his own flesh. The leader let out a chocking gasp, eyes widening as he felt the blood fill up his lungs. It seeped from the lips, down the chin, his body bended over. He stared inwardly at the teenager whose grin hadn't so much as budge. Lloyd giggled at the man's misery, twisting his arm to make the gash worse. He could hear the rips and tears of the flesh as he moved the faint cracking of the vessels inside. A light floated from the body and into the guardian's, but it went unnoticed. Lloyd slowly tore a bigger hole at the chest, squirting out more blood at each movement. The liquid poured out thicker, down his arm. It reached the clothes, making the color darker. The copper metallic smell filled his senses with joy and yanked his arm out. The body staggered, swinging side to side and spat out blood before falling back. A pool grew along the body and the guardian stared down at it in awe.

The group of heroes gaped in shock. Lloyd had killed another person before their eyes. The conviction was starting to appear on their faces, Presea and Colette backed away. The older ones stood in front of the younger, hoping to cover them from the terror.

Lloyd's hand retracted back into the cage and made two swift sharp slashes across the bars. As the blood hit it, the droplets sizzled and burned with smoke coming from it. The electricity sparked then turned off with the cut Lloyd had made. The metal slid down, falling to the earth with a heavy echoing thump, clattering among each other. Lloyd stepped out, dusting his clothes with the clean hand and stretched, shaking his blood soaked fingers. The liquid splattered off to the ground and Lloyd gazed over to his friends. They stared at each other and Lloyd's brown eyes softened at their expressions before sighing. He turned, the white tails swinging around and started heading away. As he left the place, he glanced out of the corner of his eyes to see his friends one last time and continued on. He placed his hands into the pockets and heard someone call out to him.

"Lloyd!"

It was Kratos, he had gathered enough courage to face his monster of a son.

"Lloyd!" He called out again, this time louder.

The eternal swordsmen rotated, stopping to pause his footing. He didn't move anymore, waiting patiently for his father's voice to come back.

"Where are you going?"

The guardian smiled sadly; his expression was back to normal. "Nowhere you need to know, I'm just going to wander this planet a little longer, that's it."

A whine came from in front making Lloyd's brown pools roll to the beast. Noishe whined again, trotting forward and rubbed his wet nose against the red shirt. The clean hand reached out from Lloyd, rubbing the white and green head then stopped. "I'm sorry, Noishe but I better go. This will be my final and last good-bye."

"Lloyd!" Sheena called out, jogging up a few steps.

The guardian reached up to his neck and took something off. He tossed it back to the oldest red head seraphim with a weak smile, who caught it easily. "You should take that back and don't try to stop me; I was doomed from the very beginning." The body began to disappear into particles, something he had learned from Drang. What better way to end something then to m ake a dramatic exit. The group gasped as the body dissipated, some cried out to him. Lloyd gave a _real_ smile, the smile he had always given to cheer someone up or to his friends before vanishing completely.

"See ya."

* * *

"So you're come to say good-bye." The husky voice spoke wretchedly unable to turn away from the stove. It was a large muscular person but he was short though.

"Yes." Lloyd picked up the cup of water; he had been drinking it for the last few seconds. The night sky was still out but the moon was gone, the sea of clouds had covered up the light. He brought the cup up to his lips and sipped quietly on it unable to look at his foster father. "I hope you'll take care of yourself while I'm gone."

"Of course, who do you think you're talking to? I'm the one that raised you and dealt with everything that was thrown my way. All your troubles and dreams, I've listened to them and held onto them, I did everything that was in my power." Dirk pushed himself away from the stove where he had been working on a new project and stared at his son who was sitting at the wooden table. He sauntered over and sat down across the guardian then sighed. The dwarf reached over and grabbed Lloyd's wrist, looking deep into the brown eyes. "You be careful you hear me, I don't want you to die on me."

Lloyd smiled, chuckling sympathetically to himself. "Who do you think you're talking to?" He pulled away and stood up, placing the cup on the table. "Thanks for all your love and support."

"Will you tell me something one last thing before you leave?"

The guardian turned back with curious eyes. "What would that be?"

"I want you to-"

* * *

Lloyd strolled into the forest that separated his home to Iselia. It was a small land terrain and many of the monsters that lived in here were weak and didn't cause much trouble. There would always be the distance calls of the animals and the ever flowing streams that licked the rocks below. The forest was alive everyday with all its loudness but it was quiet today, something that never happened. The monsters had gone into hiding for some odd reason; even the sounds of water had stopped. An eerie silence was casted over the entire place and the only resonance was of Lloyd's footsteps and breaths. He gazed to a spot where there were numerous marks along the ground and trees. Some of the plants were burned and cut up. Few of the trees were ripped from their roots and tossed aside.

'I remember this spot. This was where we had fought that skull monster for the last time, Sword Dancer was it.' Lloyd had paused in his steps, staring at the battle area before him; reminiscences of that time were seeping into his skull. The battle had been gory, it was a powerful demon (Not that Lloyd would have any trouble if he was allowed to fight at full power) and many of his friends had been wounded in the process. He shook himself from the thoughts, trying to forget those memories he didn't want anything to chain him down to his old home. Strolling away, Lloyd counted his steps and glanced around the place. He could feel numerous souls hiding below ground. The other base was here, right below his feet. How'd he known that? During the battle with Cyran, he had absorbed some of the man's recollections and this base just happened to be included (the light that was flowing off Cyran's body). He tapped the ground with the sole bottom of his foot and crossed his arms. "Do _you_ know where the entrance is?"

Behind Lloyd stood the white-haired man that had appeared multiple times for the past few days. Drang was silent like always, the black eyes staring at the ground and then up at the guardian without any emotions. The wind skipped by the leaves, rustling and Drang's black coat shifted in its direction. The watcher stepped ahead, moving on his own without speaking and passed Lloyd up. His footsteps were quiet even when he had kicked some rocks that were underneath. Lloyd followed behind, wadding through the tranquility.

"You know, it'd be nice if you could say something." Lloyd offered but nothing came back.

Drang suddenly stopped, twisting around to face the eternal swordsmen with a blank face. He outstretched his right hand and pointed to the ground still without saying a thing. Kneeling down, Lloyd's knee buried itself into the earth with the green grass in-between his fingers. His gloved hands ran over the field, searching for something the man had pointed out. He felt some metal rings below and gripped it firmly before yanking it up with a grunt. The metal clanked loudly and the land altered with a square piece of it coming up. The creaking of the chains was more thunderous than before and it sounded like it would snap at any moment.

"It's a secret passageway." Drang commented, his voice sounding like the wind that was blowing by.

Lloyd gazed up at the white haired man and stared. This man really _was_ _mysterious_, how'd he managed to find out about this spot, Lloyd didn't know. He could only trust this person, well, to an extent. More importantly, how was the organization able to build a base so close to his home; wouldn't he have known before hand?

"There was a magic seal on this place. It disappeared when you killed Cyran." The watcher said without taking his eye off the dark tunnel.

Lloyd instantly rotated to the other, had the man read his mind? "Ho-?"

Drang exhaled calmly, his shoulders sagging downwards as if relaxed and closed his eyes. Afterwards, he leaned over and grabbed the top of the entrance, lifting it higher. "Go."

Lloyd eyed the man for a second, searching for anything that could cause harm to him but there was none. "Why are you helping me? Surely you would want to use my powers too."

The man didn't blink at the question, his expression stuck in that permanent look. "There's no need to, I'm helping you because I want to but-" He didn't bother finishing his sentence before moving on and edged Lloyd to jump down into the base. "I have no need for those powers of yours. To me, they're useless."

The guardian squinted his eyes, he didn't know if he should feel insulted or happy. He still had his thoughts pondering over what the man hadn't finished but Lloyd knew better than to ask, after all, the man would never answer. Lloyd crawled into the tunnel; half of his body was in before he replied back to the other. "Why's that?"

At first Drang didn't reply, Lloyd could tell somewhere in his heart that the watcher was hesitating, if that was what it was. The guardian eyed the man harder, no, it wasn't hesitation but something else, Lloyd wasn't sure as to what though. As the cover began to close, he found his grip on the ladder and stepped down a few times so his head wouldn't bonk on the lid. The darkness of the tunnel was growing; the sunlight thinning out until it was nearly gone. Lloyd could still see Drang but when the lips moved, Lloyd's eyes widened in shock. The light disappeared, leaving the guardian of death in darkness (not that he minded). Lloyd held onto the metal bars for a little longer, his mind processing what had just happened.

"_Have you forgotten? I'm a creator and a Metamorcy too. Lloyd, you have always been in my debt, but I have never bothered in collecting it. So this time make the right decision for yourself afterwards and move on to a new life."_

'Just what does he mean?' Lloyd asked himself. Shaking his head, he knew he would get a better time to talk to him and glanced down. It was far and he couldn't see the end just a faint sparkle of light. He pushed himself off and fell down the rest of the way. The light below got brighter and grew larger at each passing second. The air resistance was blowing roughly through his brown bags and landed on the metal ground without a sound. He kneeled down, his right hand on the ground and the white tails came neatly floating to his back. Glancing down each tunnel, there were two of them, one on each side. The lights were dim and there were no voices, not even the sounds of the machines that would be humming. Lloyd searched for cameras but found none and traveled down the right passageway. It didn't take long to get to the main section of the building since the voices of the people were loud and echoing. He slowed down his movements not to alert anyone while keeping a sharp eye for any cameras even the hidden ones. The main area was like a large mall, doors were everywhere, people walked around freely, chattering among each other without a care. 'They most likely haven't heard about Cyran's death yet, that's probably why security is so lax, good.'

Sneaking around the soldiers, he searched the place for the control room. The base was like a maze with so many doors (just like the last one), it was hard to tell which direction was which. Every once in a while, he would have to jump onto the ceiling and hide behind the thick electricity wires that ran through the building just to avoid being seen. He came up to a room with an assassin below just entering inside; Lloyd swore he had saw monitor screens behind the closed doors and decided to investigate. He didn't jump down but instead came up to the wall that separated him from the room and passed through like a ghost. Another thing he had learned from the watcher man. A victory smile came on his face, he had been right, this _was_ the control room. Two workers (including the one that had entered) were sitting in the chairs, observing the screens with coffee mugs in each one. Lloyd watched them then the screens; he could see most of the layout of the base and memorized it quickly. Luckily this area wasn't very large, this was a small base compared to the Renegades.

'Better seal this place up so that no one can escape.' Lloyd silently hopped down, tip-toeing over to the two. With a swift movement of his hand, he yanked out a sword and silted their throats, all at once. The guardian watched them as they chocked, wailing around their limbs in shock. During that time, Lloyd sheathed his blade and proceeded by the corpses. Lifting them both up, he made it look like they were just sleeping on the job (ignoring the pool of blood that surrounded their bodies). Lloyd went over to the monitors and keyboards and cracked his knuckles. "Well let's get to work." His fingers brushed along the keys and started clicking away, making a few changes in the system.

"Are you planning on rewriting the system and shutting all the doors and exits?" A voice called out to him from behind.

"Yeah, this way they'll be a sitting duck in their own home." Lloyd replied still concentrating on the machine. He was almost done and was about to press the 'enter' button when Drang stopped him with a strong grip over the hand.

"Wait, let me do something quick." The watcher took over the spot, adding something extra before clicking the button himself. Lloyd had stared at the fingers during the whole process; he didn't know what had just happened. "I've changed the programming, passwords and planted a security system over the controls. If any of them try to hack inside, it'll instantly shut down and make the security tighter."

Lloyd blinked, he wanted to know how Drang had done that, it was some advanced hacking, but when he had watched him type, it had been so fast that he wasn't able to observe it. The fingers had looked like a blur. Lloyd sighed, he was really outmatched. The watcher glanced at the other out of the corner of his eye before backing away from the computer. The door behind them opened, drawing their attention away.

"Oh dear, seems we have company." Lloyd muttered smiling. He summoned his twin swords; they were glowing darkly with a black mist. The swords, the metal part, had dissipated and the material became black and red. "Well let's get to work; they're not going to wait for us to kill them."

Drang lifted his right leg forward and slanted his body. He didn't reply to the comment and shifted his hand. "I'll go ahead." The watcher man vanished instantly with a weak flash. This left Lloyd alone to deal with the mess he was stuck in.

"Well let's begin." He rushed forward to the three soldiers that were standing in the doorway and stabbed two (the ones on the side) in the chest. He didn't pull out his weapons but continued the attack by cutting through the bodies to get to the third. Slicing the two bodies in half, Lloyd stepped back to prevent the blood from touching and allowed the corpses to fall. The walls were covered in red, dripping and sliding off. The pools of blood spread out even to where Lloyd was standing, swirling around his feet. He walked forward, creating ripples in the still puddles, going around the bodies. The door automatically slid open and Lloyd exited, his eyes glancing down both directions of the hallway. Behind him, his red footprints followed like a shadow and he smiled as if he had done something good. His brown eyes were autumn colored like the trees that fell in the fall season. He let out a laugh, randomly heading down a pathway, his swords sparking against the cold metal floor. The squeaking it made was almost like someone was clawing a chalkboard with their nails. His body swung side to side and rounded a corner where a few men were standing, unknown to them about the mass murderer that was running a mock. They hadn't noticed the dark presence until it was too late. Lloyd quickly made due of them by slicing the heads and throats before moving on. He didn't feel like going into such effort to make his killing detailed, he could always do that _later_.

Lloyd paused for a moment, sighing and looked down at his hands. After this job, he would have to leave; he would have to leave this planet and his friends behind. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath; it was getting closer to that _time_. He was probably going to fade away right after this, no matter, he didn't mind, there was nothing left for him here. Memories of this place will be forgotten after a while, perhaps sealed away so he could no longer view them. Lloyd opened his pools back up as another group of men headed his way. He started walking again and smiled tenderly. When this was over, he would disappear, that would be the end of everything. He would go back to _them_. To the organization he had once come apart of, an organization that did odd jobs from saving a poor fellow to an assassination. The place where he had earned all his names from, it sounded so good to him. He licked his lips and darted forward without any regret. 'Let's have some fun.'

* * *

Kratos opened his eyes and stared up at the sky. He was outside, standing on the rooftop without anyone near by. His fingers were wrapped around the pendent he had given to Lloyd before it was thrown back. The picture of the whole family was there, Lloyd still a baby in the arms. The wind blew gently and it passed through his red locks, pushing them aside from his eyes. The night looked glamorous, the stars were all out and it was clear (the clouds had passed and vanished). He blinked when he saw a light shooting up into the sky; it wasn't white but a glowing black, darker than the night. It went straight up into space, passing by the twinkling stars. He was certain that he had spotted two large black wings sprouting from the light. Kratos took a step forward, making sure not to slip of the tiles and squinted his eyes to get a better look. Before that could happen though another light came in a form of a small sphere, it was a bright blue and moved up to the other light. They traveled side by side and disappeared into the darkness, never to be seen again. The wind blew harder almost sending Kratos flying but he held on, his purple tails flapping behind from the force. He felt the air swift and the world cry, he didn't know why but he did. He knew inside his heart. Lloyd was gone.

* * *

Time passed from the killing of the Makuras, the total count of dead reached an amazing five thousand over, many could no longer be identified. Black feathers covered the base, blood splattered over all the walls written in messages that could even traumatize an adult. The blood, all of it, had been turned black, eating away anything it touched with the corpses decaying. The events had spread quickly from one world to another; enemies and allies alike feared the dangerous killer and yet did absolutely nothing to fix the problem. Lloyd, from then on, gained a new nickname that was known through the universe, the 'Black Terror'.

* * *

THE END!!

NOT!!!!!! Well close to it anyway, just one more chapter and that's it. Thanks for putting up with everything.


	9. Some Dreams Come True

**Black Terror**

**By: Metamorcy**

**Disclaimer**: don't own Tales of Symphonia or Tales of the Abyss, just the characters Drang and Cradle and the whole organization people, who I don't really care much about and have killed them all off anyway. Oh well, not my problem

**6/04/09 this had been edited for spelling**

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Chapter 9: Some Dreams Come True

A year had passed since that time, the moment he had left that unforgiving planet, the forgotten dream. Lloyd wandered around the house he was currently living in; cleaning up anything his eyes caught sight of. It had been a peaceful time for him, he hadn't had any of those crazy sensations of his for a while, maybe it was because he was allowed to kill more freely than before. It fitted him well when he got down to it. Lloyd sighed, lifting up the scattered books that were lying along the floor and stacked them neatly on the bookshelf where they belonged. He glanced around the room; it was starting to look better than it had before.

Drang had been right; Lloyd _had_ gone deep into debt with the creator. He didn't even realize it until he arrived here. Ever since he had been young, the man had been watching him closely from the distance and because of Drang numerous incidents involving his abilities were prevented. The creator took care of anyone that tried to find him and his powers, Lloyd felt like he really was deep into the man's obligation. He was eternally grateful to the Metamorcy family as he had even been able to meet Drang's family. Lloyd managed to meet Cradle again but under different circumstances, it was a friendlier environment then the last time inside the enemy's base. There were three sons and Lloyd had no choice but to rely on them for support since he was new to this world and had no place to go. The youngest of the siblings had been more helpful and willing to come to his need, teaching him certain things he needed to know. It didn't take long for Lloyd to adjust to his new lifestyle he was going to live in.

Lloyd dusted his hands and then cracked his knuckles. He was finished with the cleaning with the living room now virtuous and glamorous. Though he didn't live alone in this house, the feeling of being unaccompanied or with anyone wasn't so bad anymore. He could now live with both side with no trouble (his roommates bothered him constantly and other times wouldn't speak to him for weeks).

During his stay, Lloyd had met other guardians as well. Some he had befriended instantaneously, others more on an ally's term. When he had first arrived, the swordsmen noticed someone in the group, a fellow named Luke or more extant Luke fon Fabre. He knew instantly that he was the one from his dream, the one where he died. The guy had arrived around the same time he had, but was more inexperienced with the whole change. Back then, Luke was seventeen with bright red hair cut short and green eyes, now he's eighteen, the same age as him but younger. He always wore a smile but Lloyd knew better, he could see that sad depressive look especially when he caught the red head staring out the window. The guardian of death spotted the hidden woman soon after, behind the red head.

There were two others, both guardians; he had come close to, people that were the same like him. They had the split personality and the emotional depression just like him. The two were quite strange, they were very similar in attitudes and personality except one was more hot tempered and the other calm and collected. The hot tempered one was known as the guardian of Current, the other as the guardian of Air or more precisely as the Shredder. The two guardians lived with him but weren't home right now. Somehow he had ended up becoming something like a maid to the two he lived with. Lloyd glanced to the window, his autumn pools staring out into the distance while standing still. The sun light didn't affect his sight even though it was brimmingly bright. He went over to the clock, checking the time and dropped whatever he was doing.

It was almost time to go. He had gotten a new mission to complete.

Lloyd checked over his clothes to make sure they were alright. He had gotten rid of the red clothes made by Dirk and replaced it with a black jacket. He wore a black scarf around his neck and a dark blue shirt under the jacket. Lloyd had dark blue slacks that went around his legs and black gloves on his fingers. The exsphere, the memento of his mom, he had once worn was gone, handed over to the Metamorcy family. He started for the hallway that lead to the front door and vanished before reaching it, teleporting off to his next assignment site in a small flash. The scene changed drastically and he made a touch down with the ground with ease.

"Ah, there you are!" A voice called out from behind, cheerily. Lloyd twisted around with a light smile, one he always wore to fool everyone. He wouldn't allow anyone to get too close (but his roommates, the ones he lived with, had seen through it immediately and told him to stop) and tilted his head, surveying the person who was scampering closer. It was Luke, the guardian of Holy and Evil.

Lloyd glanced around his surroundings, ignoring the other. It was a wasteland, a large one that seemed to go on endlessly in every direction. Large rocks covered the field with the wind blowing dirt, scattering it among the air. In the distance, on one side, was a small village, a tiny one and there was a diminutive area of green grass behind it. Lloyd didn't reply to the red head and headed off to their appointed destination. The younger guardian pursued behind, jogging somewhat to keep up.

"Hey, Lloyd, I dressed differently just like you asked." He tried to make the other chat, shifting the long purple sleeves around. Luke was dressed in a dark purple coat; there was no symbol in the back like the last coat he had worn. There were designs of jagged lines running up and down the bottom. The inside shirt was a dark blue tank top that went down to his thighs. The pants were black and edged around the legs, showing off his figure.

Lloyd gazed back for a moment, nodding in approval but still didn't respond.

Luke didn't give up on trying to get a conversation going. "So have you been able to see any of your friends, you know, the ones back on your home planet?" He watched as Lloyd pause in his breathing and freeze into his spot. Luke noticed it and stopped when he got a little ahead of the other. "Something wrong?"

Lloyd's fingers twitched, gazing over to Luke, who was staring cautiously at the guardian of death. "No. No, I haven't and I don't plan to either." His eyes darkened a bit but Luke thought was just the dimness of the sky since it was murky and cloudy at the same time. The twin swordsmen began striding again, passing by the other guardian completely with the black scarf flapping up and down with the breeze. More dust was picked up; it could be seen in the air like waves, rolling around in circles. The air around them cooled, the temperature dropping and the wind speed picked up. His twin swords laid resting on the waist, they were different than the ones he had gotten from his dwarf father, the hilts were almost the same but black. The white line that had once run through it was now a dark red, almost as if blood was flowing in it. The brown hair had grown a few inches; the bangs that came down went farther, the tips of them almost passing the chin. The back of the neck was covered by the scarf so nothing could be said about the growth there. Luke didn't say anything for a while, afraid he might meet the side of Lloyd he didn't want to see nor with. He had met that dangerous being only once and he never wanted to ever again. Lloyd twisted his head slightly, an autumn colored eye glancing back at the red head. "What about you? Have you visited your friends yet?"

"Nope not yet, I can't go back until later. But it's not as if I'm sad about the whole thing, its actually working out just fine."

Lloyd continued, unnoticed by the other. "But you still miss them don't you, your friends and family."

The guardian of holy and evil didn't know where this was going but replied back anyway. "Yeah."

Lloyd gazed back at their upcoming destination with a blank expression. "I see."

They entered the town without a greeting from the people. It really _was_ a small village just as the mission paper had stated (where that paper is even I don't know). The town had the aspect of a ghost, no one was outside in the clouded up sun. It was eerily quiet and Luke jerked at the tiniest sound. Their duty here was to check for any monsters surrounding the area as well as for the people that lived here. There was also the search for those that shouldn't be here too, outsiders as they called it. Of course, the two guardians were ones too but they weren't planning on staying long just a few hours of less. As they went deeper into town, Lloyd spotted some of the villagers gazing out of their windows, peering down suspiciously at the two with a certain gleam in their eyes; one Lloyd couldn't put his finger on. The two guardians instantly went on guard, something was very apprehensive about how the people were acting.

"Seems like we're not invited to their little party." Lloyd joked, continuing forward, ignoring the populaces that were glaring coldly. Luke didn't and seemed like he didn't want to be here. The death guardian detected of it and paused a little. "You can go home if you want to."

The other guardian shook his head. "No, I can't, I was ordered to remain with you at all times."

The eternal swordsmen stared at the younger man with pity. "I see, that's too bad." He turned his attention back to the road, still not caring about the stares. "We're not allowed to attack, are we?"

"That's right. It's against the orders."

"Then…we're in trouble." Lloyd smiled, his feet stopping.

The doors around them slammed open, filling out of the homes were the villagers almost like a bunch of marching ants. They surrounded them quickly, each one holding something to attack and defend with. Lloyd continued to beam, there was no fear in his eyes, there was nothing in it at all. He was empty almost like a pretty doll but his soul raved for blood and decay. There was no care within him, he'd drag anyone down with him, unwilling or not, and burn them to death. Luke was different than him in every way, almost like the opposite. The poor read head didn't know what to do and just remained still. A few of the people had black bags in their hands, others ropes and all at once, they attack with little doubt of what could happen next as if driven by some force.

* * *

Lloyd felt himself being yanked up some flight of stairs, his boots stomping loudly across wooden type planks beneath his feet. He couldn't see where he was going, a black bag over his face but he could tell instantly that it was raining. His clothes were soaking wet and the water was icy cold. He could feel the bitter wind eating into his skin, his scarf sticking to his clothes, too heavy to flap any longer. Lloyd thought it felt pleasant; the water was cooling and cleansed him. He felt his body calming down even though he knew what was going to happen soon. The guardian was sure that Luke was beside him, two people each holding them both down, not allowing either to escape. Why was this happening? Lloyd kept his lips in a thin line. Why was he allowing this to happen in the first place? Why didn't he feel the need to dishonor this reality too? He didn't know why, he felt like he _wanted_ it to become true. The rain iced his blood and he couldn't feel anything but the numbness that was overcoming his senses. The men placed him into a little area, tying him down to the boards. The bonds that were holding his arms together were making him slump downhill. Someone came by and took the hood off, the rain beating down on his face now. His bangs and hair were descending from its usual style and Lloyd stared up at the sky.

It was his nightmare, the one he had seen all his life.

Sure there were a few changes made in them like Cloud was no longer here standing behind him and it was night right now, not in the late afternoon. But it was hard to tell that with the sky completely covered with clouds. He observed the public, watching them shift and blend with each other.

Lloyd turned to the right, spotting Luke who looked fully prepared for what was going to happen next. He smiled softly at the red head, hoping that would compose him, even if it was just a little. Lloyd gazed coldly at the crowd then the eyes turned emotionless. The rain grew harder and the wind tossed around lifeless things like they were feathers or mere toys to play with. The crowd was holding those repulsive black umbrellas, the liquid sliding off the leather sheets. They looked the same as in his dream in every possible way, the same blankness. Lloyd shut his eyes, letting the rain beat his face, running off the skin. A few droplets slipped into his lips and tasted the fluid; it wasn't clean like the purest water that would be found underground.

One of the men from the side stepped closer to the two guardians and pulled out a list. He began reciting the death sentence and their accused crimes but everyone even the crowd knew it was a lie; it only gave them a better excuse to put these two people to their death.

Lloyd and Luke stood still even as they moved forward to wrap the ropes around their necks. It was tight and the friction burned against the skin. Lloyd glanced down out of the corner of his eyes and saw the plank underneath his feet. The lever that was holding it up was beside him just in his reach but he made no motion to stop the process. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wanted this to happen, to make something he had dreamed of come true for once. He had prevented all the others; it was high time he tolerated one to come to life. He had turned all his friends' destinies around, change it so they wouldn't die but this one would happen for himself to bring some destruction upon himself. Lloyd didn't want this to change; he wanted to know how it felt like to be powerless in the end. Luke was going along with it; Lloyd knew that, he knew that the boy had the abilities to escape. He wanted to make it seem as if he didn't have a choice but to accept it, to make himself believe that he was really going to die.

"It seems that no matter what I do to change my own fate, it always ends in the same spot." Lloyd sighed, opening up his autumn pools, he felt at ease, not a single worry running through his veins.

Luke gazed over to the other. "You can change others even your own but there are times, you want nothing more than to feel your own demise."

"Oh well, its not too bad. I don't really mind, I might truly die today." Lloyd joked with a smile not caring if the scene was the worst place to do such a thing. He started to laugh, that crackling he made that send shivers down people's spine. The audience proved it; their resolve had weakened at his sickening cry of humor.

"You shouldn't say such things! You know what would happen if that comes true!"

"I know but everyone has to die sooner or later, even Lord Drang knows that. That's why I became the next guardian after Cloud and you after Heaven. I also know about the _other_ _reason_ too. I don't want them _all_ to fall with me but after _this,_ they'll experience the pain I had to go through without truly meeting my end." Lloyd sighed and took a deep breath, controlling his laughter. "Oh well, you'll be the first one to wake up after all this, that is, if you do."

"How do you know about that?" Luke asked surprised, he wanted to edge away from the sadistic eccentric mad man. Heaven wasn't here to help him; he was on his own in dealing with this person. (She had been ordered to not appear before the hanging)

"I just do but when you _do_ wake up, probably soon after the hanging, I want you to leave and head on home. You will tell the superiors this, 'The mission was both a failure and success. We have failed to destroy any of the people but succeeded in finding them, the whole village is at fault. Lloyd will _personally_ take care of this mess'." The death guardian licked his lips, that manic smile and stared at the crowd with a calm expression which frightened the audience some more. "That's what you're going to say and you must _never_ come back, you hear me? Or I'll gladly put you in the same place as _he_ has gone through."

Luke's eyes widened, he teased in fear. The person Lloyd was talking about was one of his roommates, Luc, was it. Lloyd had used a nail gun to pin Luc to the wall, used knifes, anything sharp, to make holes into the raged body, to make him bleed to death but a guardian couldn't die that easily. He was left to his misery until someone took notice of the missing person. Luke squeaked out a response, he didn't want to meet Lloyd's evil side. "U-Understood."

"You know I always wondered how it felt to be hanged." Lloyd commented offhand, now steering the conversation away from killing. He appeared to have gone back to normal, or as normal as he could be. The people were starting to shift about, the speech finished.

The red head nervously laughed. "I don't know if that's a good thing to want."

The man that was supposed to pull the leaver came strolling across the planks, the boots clacking on them. Lloyd snorted in amusement and bit his bottom lip to keep himself from laughing. The storm seemed to quiet down for the moment like in fancied to observing the unjust hanging.

Lloyd glanced over to the other guardian with an entertaining yet depressed grin. "I've decided that right now, the old Lloyd will die, the part of me that still hangs on to the past and to all my old friends and family that I'll probably never see again."

Luke gasped quietly unable to twist to the other.

"I'll become his shadow, something that's been left behind to decay and rot and I'll live up to that. A monster that kills and feeds on the living, it'll be exciting." Lloyd closed his eyes, relaxing into the ropes. His voice whispered the last short sentence. "Bye."

And the lever was pulled.

* * *

A month later

The small village had prospered greatly then ever before since the execution, the crops were being produced by the barrel. The wasteland had receded from their homes and water was plentiful. A young female, perhaps in the mid-twenties wandered across her home, sometimes glancing out the window to the graveyard where the villagers had thrown their hanged corpses into. There were no graves markers to identify the bodies, just a dead corpse buried underneath the earth. The red headed one had somehow gotten away, standing up right after the lynching, the neck burned by the ropes. They tried to chase the man but he had disappeared from vision, never to be found again. Some people thought of it as a curse or bad luck that would be coming soon but no one had seen such a thing. It had been a wonderful time. Good things have been coming in back and forth, no unusual killings, no bad weather, everything was great and magnificent. _Almost like they were trapped in a dream_. But then there was the _other _one. He had been _laughing_ before he died. The woman shaked her head and went back to the stove, mixing the stew she was cooking, putting all concentration into making it for her large family.

A shuffling sound, loud and clear as the flames crackling underneath the pot, came from outside. She ignored it at first, thinking it was someone digging a hole, it was quite common for a villager to do that.

Another one came, this time it came from _behind_.

She froze, her hands shaking at the cold breeze that had entered the room. The temperature continued to drop even though it was a hot and humid day. Her eyes darted to the grave site, a shiver went down her spine.

_The grave that had held the last hanging had been dug up_.

The dirt had been tossed aside and clawed through with one pair of footsteps walking away. There was blood all over the earth where the fingers had ripped into could be seen on top. A trail of red wandered away from the spot, darkening the ground. A cold hand went to her shoulder, twisting her around so fast that she dropped the spoon in hand.

_The corpse was in front of her_.

Lloyd grinned, his head drooping low, the bangs covering up his features but blood was still streaming down the forehead. He had pieces of dirt still attached to his clothes, clinging to it. The red liquid was dripping from the lips, most of it still fresh. A dark line circled the neck where the rope had gone around and into. The scarf that would have covered it up was suspending stumpy and off the shoulders, torn at the sides. Lloyd gazed up; his autumn pools had little bits of red swimming inside. He smiled cruelly.

"Hello."

The woman was frozen in horror, unable to let out a cry for help. The guardian tilted his hand, the one that wasn't holding the woman, and in it was a large hammer. He brought it back and swung forward with all his might. It was buried into the woman's skull without a second thought, splitting the head in half. The kitchen counter was covered in the woman's guts and juices, dripping off. It pooled around her head, the puddle growing bigger as the liquid poured out of the hole. Her eyes were wide open, the eyeballs bobbing up and down from the sockets. The face was no longer recognizable and the hair was scattered, dyed in blood.

And he laughed in his usual ways.

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_

And the village was never heard of again.

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All done. Finally.

There will be a sequel to this called "Final Destination", where Kratos and Yuan goes out seeking the guardian of death, when I get the time to put it up, hope you all enjoyed the this.

Also for all those that want to know, Luke's story is called "Returning Home" but it's not as bloody as this one and it's a yaoi, so yeah.


	10. Burn

**Title:** Black Terror

**By**: Metamorcy

**Rating**: M

**Disclaimer**: Don't own, don't sue so why bother

**All of the chapters have been edited and fixed. The spelling and grammar errors have mostly been checked so if you'd like, you can read the new and improved version. I hope it's better than last time. **

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**Chapter 10: Burn**

Years later…

Lloyd, or should he be called Death by his codename now, glanced around the field he was currently walking in. He was so bored. There was nothing to do. He had just finished his work, the mission he was given to complete. His ruby red eyes turned to the village that was on fire, the flames burning wood and flesh alike. The smell made him grin, he was so happy to have a chance to kill but he was now sad that it was over. He stood still for a moment, watching and taking in his destruction. He could hear the faint cries of people screaming before they got engulfed by the flames.

He snickered at their misery and laughed, his voice carrying over the raging inferno and the sounding of cracking. Buildings made of wood, collapsed, black and white ashes flew up to mix with the air and smoke seemed to blacken the light blue sky. The sun was completely covered, only little pieces were able to get through but that little light made the smoke so creepy and threatening. A dark shadow overcastted the village and the haze of blackness surrounded everything. The wind blew gently, tossing the fire to the next house and then to the next. The fields of corn and wheat and anything else they had been growing got caught. It went up slowly since the water that had been collected around it seemed to act like some kind of barrier but that didn't last long as it soon dried up and the leaves started to turn black and red from the ambers and fall down. Parts of them flew into the air, carried off, only to catching something else on fire when it landed. Animals nearby, drawn by the bright light, observed in the distance, but none were willing to come any closer. The scent of death admitting from the person was too frightening for their minds and soon ran away into the forest. Lloyd glanced around his area and sat down on one of the stumps nearby and folded his legs. He leaned over as he saw a few people managing to escape from the fiery doom. Many of them were woman and children, all crying and screeching bloody murder. Lloyd chuckled darkly and licked his lips at the thought of their screams. But he didn't have to do anything, though, just watch. Why work when there was someone else to do it for you?

A flash of green passed him and the wind created from it made his scarf and hair ruffle. He examined to group of people than the killer he had sent. Sync, his good friend, who also had the same enjoyment for this sort of thing, always came with him. Luc as well but he tended to stay in the back and observe. It was more of his thing and Lloyd didn't mind, he never mined. He needed someone level-headed in the heat of battle to restrain him and Sync when they lost control. His ears could hear the sound of flesh getting sliced, the sounds of bones cracking, and limbs dropping to the ground. Lloyd made his lips curve upward. Sync was already having _fun_ with the escapees.

"Aren't you going to join in?" Luc asked from behind, his arms folded across his chest and stared ahead. He walked closer and sat down next to his friend, his shoulder against the other.

"No, I'll let Sync have fun. I already played the village myself and I'm already tired." Lloyd combed his blood-soaked hair back with his gloved fingers, dyeing his hands dark red. A few droplets of crimson fell down his neck, down his pale skin. "Plus, I already had my fill of fun for the day. Why don't you join in? You look like need might need some killing."

"Maybe later when I feel like it but right now, let's just have Sync do it." The green-haired man muttered, leaning closer to Lloyd. He could smell the strong scent of blood and earth mixed together and it was such a lovely aroma. He breathed it in and licked his lips with them twitching to a half smile. "You did quite a number. How many did you kill this time?"

"Depending on what method I used." Lloyd chuckled. "I killed 154 brutally. I basically dissected them and left their family members to find them. It was so much fun, I love hearing their screams of despair. And then another 189 people with my magic and watched them get torn apart, it was amusing just how far the human body can stretch before ripping apart." Lloyd laughed at this, throwing his head back for a moment. "Then the next 368 all got burned alive, no one was killed until they could feel the fire eating through their skin and feel it melt away! And now the rest, the last 33, are getting killed by Sync."

"So about 744 people." Luc grumbled. "That's very little compared to our usual number."

"Yeah, but who cares. I just like the enjoyment and I know deep down I know you do too." Lloyd's red eyes turned to his friend with a manically expression. Luc returned it but his was less crazy but that didn't hide the glint in his eyes. The Black Terror stood up and headed down the cliff to join Sync, who had already finished off everyone, Luc wasn't far behind. "Now, let's get this celebration started. I've been dying for a blood bath."

Luc chuckled, laughing with his good friend.

Sync turned to them, covered in blood and grinned, slowly heading towards them.

"Yes, this will be fun…" Lloyd whispered to himself before meeting Sync.

* * *

Short, yes, I know but I just wanted to put this up here for some odd reason. It had been bugging me for a few days so yeah. Here you go.

Also if you want to see more of this Lloyd, there a fanfic of mine called 'Interference' where he gets sent to the beginning of the journey with a younger version but different (the normal one) of him.

Thanks for all your support!


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